


«»V ,# ^ % 




Y * ? * ^> <# ,. * * « / <^ r CT ^ ' * o , ^ r c? 

Ha 



"W 



^ <3* 



>. • t- . « 5) . * Ha /•. *• . A Ss * ■ 







** 




■ $ 9* ■ i 

ay ^ ' ^Wp*^ \ ■ay ^ 







* 0/ ^ 






><+. 


















<. 








V''^\^ «b,^Vo\^ V^^> 




^ / ri^\ ^W* 



W 






# v 



^0* 



9 <H CU 



K**°* ^ 






W 






J* 



£ 















* oP 



^«2o 






. - % 



^^v»,V— ">%», 



* * o /■ ^ V y S- * * ° / ^ 







THE 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING 



PRINCIPLES AND AET 



3 normal aPfcucattnn; 



BRIEF REVIEW OF ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 



REMARKS ON THE PRACTICE OF CORPORAL 
PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS ; 



AND STR1CTUR£S ON THE 

PREVAILING MODE OF TEACHING LANGUAGES. 



By A. R. "CRAIG. 



Ta XP r ? crT ' eirtCTTa^e^a, ovk iKirovovfAev 5e. 

Eurip. 



£econtr IStrttton. 



LONDON : 
SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, STATIONERS' HALL COURT; 

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 

1847. 






LONDON 

iLACKBURN AND PARDON, PRINTERS, 

HATTON GARDEN. 



y 



i " 



MRS. FORBES LEITH, 

OF 

Wfjttefiaugf). 



Deab Madam, 

In dedicating the following work to you, in whose 
hospitable residence the greater part of it was written, would I 
thus acknowledge, in some small degree, the many kindnesses 
received, and opportunities for study afforded, while at that time 
a guest in your family circle. Nor do I deem, that to any one 
may such a treatise more appropriately be inscribed — a leading 
principle of which is intended to illustrate the power of maternal 
affection as an element in moral training — than to a parent, 
whose own children have so largely participated in the best 
fruits of that benign influence. 

Accept then, Dear Madam, in the dedication of these 
pages, the full tribute of that esteem which such an act has ever 
been held to imply; and that every happiness may attend you, 
is the sincere wish of,. 

Yours faithfully, 

A. E. CEAIG. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/philosophyoftraiOOcrai 



PREFACE. 



It must often have occurred to those interested in the 
question of education, and observant of the form in 
which it is usually presented to the public, how much 
more attention is ever bestowed upon its merely external 
features than its intrinsic nature and properties. Too much 
has ever been taken for granted regarding a knowledge 
of the subject itself, while the various modes by which 
its still undefined principles should operate and manifest 
themselves have been discussed inflnitesimally. The 
questions of a national or voluntary endowment — of a 
combined religious and secular, or an independent system 
— of a monitorial or simultaneous method — of explanatory 
modes and intellectual plans, have been the engrossing 
themes ; and a consideration of them has doubtless elicited 
many valuable suggestions and improvements. But these 
all refer to so many mere contingencies surrounding the 
subject-^adjectives, as one may say, of a substantive 

b 



VI PREFACE. 

whose own qualities must be defined before the former 
can be shaped into harmonious adaptation to them. 
The learning to read, to write, and to cipher, with all other 
branches of school instruction, is in itself but a mode of 
education ; , the directing of that mode by a staff of moni- 
tors or an individual master, but a question of conveni- 
. ence and efficacy in imparting its self- educating means. 
The explaining of words and better plans of teaching are 
but organic improvements in the art of applying these 
means. Even the religious and secular question refers 
but to the administrative department, while its propaga- 
tion by national enactment or voluntary efforts, is a 
question of political and social economy. 

All these adventitious circumstances, therefore, how- 
ever individually important, are but of secondary moment 
to a consideration of the great first principles from 
which they all emanate, and of which they form but 
a physical apparatus or frame-work. This apparatus, 
too, must ever vary by circumstances; and however 
valuable the discoveries made for the better working 
of its machinery, it should be borne in mind that the 
whole is but a conventional arrangement, and much 
of it liable to be superseded or remodelled according 
as clearer views are developed regarding the funda- 
mental laws of education itself, which are above all 
change, and eternal. But certain systems and modes of 
administering these essential laws have been generally 



PREFACE. VII 

assumed as first principles, and whatever improvements 
have been effected from such data have rather tended 
outwards from the subject than inwards towards it. The 
improvements introduced under the Bell and Lancasterian 
'systems are of this nature. These were at first merely 
organic changes in the external management of a school, 
with perhaps better modes of teaching what was taught 
before. But that which was taught before constituted 
only a small part of education, and hence little improve- 
ment in it was thus effected. Nor, for the same reason, 
-was the adoption of the explanatory and intellectual mode 
much of an essential improvement. While monitorism 
arranged and methodized its previous materials, the intel- 
lectual system improved upon the materials themselves. 
But neither a better arrangement nor improvement of 
these instruments was much advance towards a knowledge 
and practice of their application, or the work to be done 
by them, much less of that greater and more import- 
ant part of the work not even subject to their influence. 
And the reason is, that erroneous systems of belief 
regarding the nature of that work no less generally pre- 
vailed than an ignorance of its practice. 

This tendency in the universal mind to deposit, as it 

were, certain systems of belief and practice, which the 

lapse of time equally consolidates, whether erroneous or 

otherwise, is not therefore always beneficial to the cause 

iof truth, but more frequently the reverse. How often, 



Vlll PREFACE. 

and bow long have the correct principles of science been 
retarded, in having bad thus to struggle up from nature 
through the superincumbent framework of a popular but 
erroneous system of contrary opinions ! The minds of the 
majority of mankind, trained up beneath such a canopy 
of ideas, passively receive the stereotyped impression ; while 
it is only the rare occurrence of some less plastic but more 
original mind refusing to be thus moulded, that imbibes 
its convictions of truth from more natural sources. Of 
this "love of system" as a source of error, specified by 
Lord Bacon under the allegorical phrase, "The Idol of the 
Tribe," the Aristotelian philosophy is an instance — though 
indeed the system of doctrines that became popular under 
that name was very different from those contained in 
the genuine writings of the Stagirite. That system was 
taught in the schools for ages, and a blind submission to 
its dogmas exacted from pupils. In some universities it 
was considered scarcely inferior to the Scriptures. It 
was supported by statutes requiring teachers upon oath to 
follow no other guide than that of Aristotle, and it was 
considered a bold innovation when to that philosophy 
were merely added the writings of Plato, Pythagoras, and 
the Stoics. Yet the monks and Jesuits, who so loudly 
denounced that " heresy," as threatening a revolution in 
the science of mind, might have saved their alarms, had 
they known that no extension of the same system 
of reasoning would ever develop sounder views of mental 



PREFACE. IX 

philosophy. It was but adding to a building whose 
foundation was unsound, and which indeed, in another 
way than they feared, accelerated the ruin of the entire 
structure. But the temple of truth arose upon a different 
foundation, laid deep in nature, and was gradually reared 
to perfection by materials derived from the same source. 
Kejecting the logomachies and sophistries of the school- 
men, a return was made to the natural workings of the 
mind itself in its examination of nature, and the princi- 
ples of a system of inductive reasoning drawn from thence, 
that have revolutionized or modified all former systems, 
not only of mental but material philosophy. 

In a similar way the theories and fallacious systems of 
ancient astronomy long retarded an advance of the 
true principles of that science. Its former data were 
mostly conjectures, from which facts were attempted to 
be drawn ; and though many facts harmonized with such 
data, it did not therefore follow that these were correct as 
general principles of astronomy. It was building down- 
wards from heaven to earth by an artificial prop-work, 
instead of upwards from earth to heaven upon a natural 
foundation and scaffolding. Yet the consolidating hand 
of time gave a consistency to these loose principles, which 
held sway over the human mind for long ages; and as 
the glimmering of a taper serves but to render the sur- 
rounding darkness of night the more intense, the dawning 
light of a Copernicus only revealed the universality and 

b2 



X PREFACE. 

magnitude of the errors that had been perpetuated under 
the Ptolemaic system. In addition to his own early 
belief, however, Copernicus was also a close observer 
of nature; and finding discrepancies between the two, 
happily yielded to the evidence of sense, and drew 
his own conclusions from the latter. From the simple 
phenomenon, that must have been familiar to every one, 
namely, the optical illusion that takes place to a spec- 
tator in a boat moving along the banks of a river, the 
objects on which seem to move past, he drew the sublime 
induction, that a similar illusion happens with respect to 
the heavenly bodies, and thus laid the basis of an entirely 
different system. But aware of the danger of its coming 
into competition with the former belief, he neither 
announced his rejection of the one, nor discovery of the 
other, till near the close of his life, fifty years afterwards. 
And another half century elapsed before, by the exertions 
of Galileo, " it was kindled into so bright a flame as 
to consume the philosophy of Aristotle, to alarm the 
hierarchy of Rome, and to threaten the existence of every 
opinion not founded on experience and observation."* 

To this "love of system" may also be added the danger 
that threatened for a time the discovery of the great law 
of planetary gravitation, inductively though each step of 
the process was gone through ; and had the investigation 

* Playfair. 



PREFACE. XI 

been conducted by a mind less original than that of the 
immortal discoverer, it must have failed, on coming into 
collision with formerly received opinions. He traced the 
power of attraction as being not sensibly diminished from 
the top of a tree, a building, a mountain, and thence 
inferred its action upon the moon and planets, and by 
a laborious mathematical calculation found the law of 
its ratio. But this truth being incompatible with the 
system that prevailed regarding the concentric circles of 
the planetary orbits, he was on the point of abandoning 
it as hypothetical and fallacious! Happily, however, by 
a collateral discovery, he found that system itself to be 
erroneous, and his law to be the origin of a new system, 
destined to overthrow the " vortices" of the Cartesian phi- 
losophy, and to establish its truths upon an investigation 
into the laws of matter and motion as exemplified by 
nature herself. 

No apology is deemed necessary for adducing such 
instances as illustrative of the subject of education — for 
no less has that science suffered through ancient preju- 
dice and conventional system, than the sciences of 
astronomy and logic. Milton was perhaps the first who 
suggested a few original ideas on the subject, and pointed 
out . a more rational course than the systems of his 
day exhibited. Locke followed in exposing the pedan- 
tries of what constituted the education of his time. 
Rousseau and other theorists went still farther. But it 



Xll PREFACE. 

was reserved for a mind intellectually inferior to any of 
these to strike out the only path that can conduct to a 
right knowledge and practice of the art of mental train- 
ing. Henry Pestalozzi may in one sense, therefore, be 
well compared to Bacon, Copernicus, or Newton, in having 
literally founded a new ' school' of education, and that 
upon the same natural principles of observation and 
induction which they pursued. By this plan the minds 
of children are brought into immediate contact with the 
objects of nature, instead of looking at them through the 
obscurities of language and the mysticism of books, in 
the same way that those philosophers arrived at truth by 
natural experiment, instead of groping after it among the 
speculative systems of their predecessors. Time, there- 
fore, is all that is wanted to carry into effect and conso- 
lidate these Pestalozzian principles into an organized 
system, to supersede all former plans and methods not 
equally founded in nature. 

As an instance of the difficulty of such a task, how- 
ever, what seems a more hopeless undertaking than any 
attempt to re-model the present system of classical study, 
pursued at the endowed universities and grammar schools, 
or even to depress that study to a secondary pursuit ? Yet 
most people now admit that the mere study of dead lan- 
guages ought not to consume so many of the precious 
years of boyhood and youth. But until lately the same 
error extended down through the whole apparatus of 



PREFACE. Xlll 

modern education, and " word-mongering and rote sys- 
tems" constituted its principal elements. 

The following work is an humble effort to review the 
entire question in the light of nature and Scripture, — that 
is, to regard the subject of education as unfettered by 
system and prejudice, and from the manifestations of 
nature in a human being, to deduce its essential laws, — to 
show, not only the analogy of nature in training the 
inferior creation, but the necessity for building upon that 
principle as a foundation, and proceeding in a uniform 
line upwards through the very highest departments of 
intellect and morals. Man is not only a rational, but an 
instinctive animal; the latter part of his nature should 
therefore, be regulated rather than restrained by reason. 
So far as its legitimate influence extends, its promptings 
should be attended to by reason, which should assume 
the reins only when it has dropped them. How many 
of man's best instincts are lost or dwarfed in their deve- 
lopment by having their legitimate operations performed 
by some artifice of reason, or "by that ultra- civilization 
which strangles the natural feelings !" The promptings of 
conduct are then not from within, but from without; 
but it is the inward desires and inclinations that must 
be attended to, and. gratified by reason, up to that point 
where instinct fails to supply them — when reason must 
then not only regulate and gratify, but educe the higher 
and more spiritual aspirations. 



XIV PREFACE. 

The Norma of education must, therefore, be drawn, not 
only from, hut by, nature ; else, like the addition of the 
Academic philosophy, to that of the Peripatetics, in monk- 
ish times, the institution of normal seminaries upon any 
other basis, will form but an excrescence upon existing 
systems, rather than any new system. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Subject introduced as a science — Danger of being mixed up with 
other questions — Analogy — Its universal and conventional appli- 
cation — Not adapted to most of the present arrangements of 
society — Its good and evil effects — Agency in improving humanity 
— Abstract subserviency to religion — Union of schools to churches 
not a union of education to religion — Intrinsic difference — Parallel 
drawn — Different influences necessary — Preparatory to religion — 
Definition — Union of the two only in Christian action — Its social 
importance — Obstacles to its diffusion — Supremacy of intellectual 
selfishness — Moral benefits a collateral, not intentional effect of 
most actions — Polish freedom — Patriotism — Charity — Missionary 
endeavours — Fancy bazaars — Charity balls — Necessity of educat- 
ing motives of conduct — Evolution of goodness out of all events. 

CHAPTER II. 

Rise and progress of education — Parallel to language — Opinions 
concerning the latter — Capacities of inferior animals — Artificial 
education a result of language — Its absence in brutes — Resem- 
blance between the latter and man — In mind — In feeling — 
Disconnexion between them — Artificial training the source of 
man's superiority — Egypt — Its hieroglyphics — Analogous to infant 
education — From concrete to abstract — Expansion of the univer- 
sal mind by letters — Language worship — Source of mythology — 
Of superstition — Contrast between the speculative and practical 
sciences of Egypt — Egyptian errors diffused into other lands — 
Carthage — Development of her commercial character — Language 
from Phenicia — Origin of metaphors — Of genii — Baneful effects 



XVI CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

of an overtrained commercial spirit among the Carthaginians — 
Their character by Cicero — By Livy — Their fanaticism and cruelty 
— Instance by Diodorus — Influence of religious fear in deforming 
the social character 20 

CHAPTER III. 

Greece — Native characteristics and foreign education — Patriotism 
the ultimate good — Spartan education — Its misdirected energies 
and hardships — Effects upon the maternal feelings — State cruelty 
to boys — In the marriage of girls — Athens — Supremacy of intel- 
lect over animalism — Effects of natural scenery — Gymnasia — 
Music — Custom of Pythagoreans — Effects upon the Arcadians — 
Philosophers and warriors practised it — Capacity of Greeks for per- 
fecting every art and science — Their originality of genius — Meta- 
physics and ethics — Socrates — Similarity of his doctrines to the 
Gospel — First example of training in him — Incapacity of Greece 
to sustain her position — Her downfall — Rome — Its infant charac- 
ter — Military training — Similar to Spartan education — Inaptitude 
for mental accomplishment — First desire of literature from the 
Achaians — Discouraged by Cato the censor — Unlike Greece, the 
animal principle predominant — Selfishness the ruling motive — 
Perfection of the physical principle — Its reaction and conse- 
quences 40 

CHAPTER IV. 

Parallel between individual and universal education — Necessity of a 
borrowed light to guide the moral powers — having no natural 
desire for their own higher gratification — Heathen philosophy bene- 
volent rather than beneficent — The scriptural principle — Effects 
counter-worked from a want of training — Religion made an en- 
gine of worldly power — The crusades — Summary, proving moral 
training the chief element wanting in all previous systems — The 
whole man never educated — Necessity of education being made 
a scientific art — Analogy of a surgeon — Normal instruction a 
modern phenomenon — Acquired only by practice 61 

CHAPTER V. 

Nature of the art — Analogy of painting — Training more than teach- 
ing — Nature of the latter — Analogies — Difference between a 
trained and untrained master — Character of a moral trainer — Moral 



CONTENTS. XV11 

PAGE 

nature depending upon physical, more than mental qualities — 
Gratitude a natural result of physical gratification — Knowledge 
of physics necessary to moral culture — Analogy — Morals affected 
by the manner and antecedent feelings of the gratifier — Whole con- 
duct governed by feelings — The mother in the place of God — 
Love to her forms the character — Necessity of a nurse schooling 
her own temper— Superiority of a mother — Difference in temper 
of children — The " stubborn" child often an original character— 
Eradicative influence of school 73 

CHAPTER VI. 

Origin of reform in education — Sunday schools — Bell and Lancaster 
— Infant schools — Pastor Oberlin — Oral and object instruction by 
Pestalozzi — Want of applying its known principles — Normal 
schools necessary for rich as well as poor — Analogy of photoge- 
nic drawing — Mental impressions affected by the medium through 
which they pass — Danger of injury from an ignorant mode — 
Difficulty of picturing out ideas — A concrete — A precocious intel- 
lect — Imitation — Necessity of art to guide the conduct naturally 
— Analogies — Normal school a moral daguerreotype — No provi- 
sion made for training tutors to the rich, and for grammar 
schools, &c. — Tutor for the Prince of Wales — Extraneous qualifi- 
cations — Choice of governesses — Mental training most needed in 
female education — Sound judgment conducive to a just fancy — 
Affection increased from same cause — False position between 
governesses and parents — Female training seminaries 96 

CHAPTER VII. 

Normal schools a modern desideratum — Influence of custom in re- 
tarding improvement — Time necessary — Analogies of special 
training — A physician — A clergyman — A lawyer — A barrister — 
Physical training necessary to form a technical habit — Analogies 
— Preceptor for the rich not chosen from a professional fitness — 
Subserviency of education to divinity and medicine 120 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Principles of Glasgow Normal Seminary — Simultaneous instruction 
— Sympathy of numbers — Monitorism — Mixed plan — Explana- 
tory system — Division of the subject into science, art, and method 
— Improved methods under the auspices of Mr. Kay Shuttleworth. 131 



XVU1 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Analysis of method in Reading — Words an index to previous know- 
ledge — Phonic method — Synthetic — No connexion between names 
and sounds of letters — Act of memory learning by names of letters 
— Useless drudgery of " learning to spell" — Instrumentary nature 
of reading and speaking — Education of the senses — Ideas before 
names — Danger of mere verbal knowledge — Books a small item 
of school apparatus — Articulation — Tone and emphasis — Mode of 
acquiring the habit of correct articulation — Accent and emphasis 
essentially the same — Etymology — Agglutinating process of 
spoken language — Mode of analysing and combining a word — 
Grammar — Incidentally : — Division -into notional and relational 
words — Their modifications and qualities— Doubt as to theory 
preceding practice — Imitation — General remarks 141 

' CHAPTER X. 

Method of -Number — Sensible ideas before reflective' — Visible arith- 
metic before abstract — The arithmeticon^-Roman Abacus — Latter 
why more used by Romans than Greeks — Size and distance of 
objects — Named from. pacts of body — Mental arithmetic — Slate 
arithmetic — Formation -of Roman numerals — Science based in 
reason — Method of Writing*— Observation — Education of the eye 
and hand — Their mutual dependence — Analysis and synthesis of 
written characters — ^Scientific rules by Mulhauser 166 

CHAPTER XI. 

Method of Geography — Inductive mode of teaching it — Natural 
observation — Artificial means, maps, &c. — Extract from report 
of Training School at Battersea — Method of History — Errors of 
popular mode — Prejudicial effects — Resemblance to biography — 
No proper books — Nature of inductive teaching in biography, an 
example for the same in history — End of analysis of method .... 180 

CHAPTER XII. 

Nature of the subject to be educated — Analogy of sculpture — Natural 
condition of man — Science of mind based on physiology — Still 
obscure — His active and passive nature — Self-training — Parental 
influence — Guidance of faculties — Physical Training — Extract 



CONTENTS. XIX 

PAGE 

from Chambers — Mental effects from impaired bodily organs — 
From external and internal causes — Moral effects — Selfishness 
from ungratified wants — Incapacity of the instrument — View of 
the bodily organs — Volition the main-spring of the machine — 
Negative view of the case — Same imperfection from want of 
training as derangement of the parts — Bodily suffering entailed — 
Elements of health — Food — Air — Cleanliness — Exercise — Action 
a design of the human frame — Instances — Nervous system — Cou- 
rage — Best kind of exercises — Extract from Prize Essay — Action 
of the brain — Precocity — Prejudices on the subject — Combina- 
tion of study with amusement 193 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Intellectual Education — Power of will over the mind — Itself 
controlled — Modern division of mental science — Perception and 
reflection— Similar division of education — Observing faculties — 
Faculty of language — Lessons on objects — Analogy of camera 
obscura — Pestalozzian principle reduced to art — Higher course 
by pictures — Miss Mayo V work — Powers of reason — Method in 
best seminaries — Elliptical mode — Examples of analysis and 
synthesis — Similarity of effects in mental and bodily exercises — 
Summary and recapitulation 222 

CHAPTER XIV 

Moral Education — Analogy from geology — Nature and supe- 
riority of the moral principle — Ought to govern the intellect — 
Incipient manifestation in the present age — Want of means for 
moral training, strictly so called — Sunday and ragged schools on a 
wrong basis — Sympathy of numbers — Advantages of public over 
private education — Moral action — Bible training — Development 
and guidance of the feeling of gratitude — Obedience naturally 
gained by affection — Made instrumental in forming habits — Na- 
ture and cultivation of veracity — Anger — Justice — Benevolence 
— Formation of habits the sum of moral training — Law of kind- 
ness pervading inferior nature — Social rank of the educator .... 249 

CHAPTER XV. 

Corporal Punishments in schools — Substituted by a moral influ- 
ence upon the conscience — Illustrations — Loud talking in school 



XX CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

— Scolding — Revenge — Vice its own punishment — Acts repressed, 
not habits formed — Memory Lessons — Latin and Greek — Inat- 
tention — Fighting — Falsehood — Influence of fear — Remedies — ; 
Scriptural warrant considered 251 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Classical Instruction — Its utility considered — Ought to be a 
special branch — Errors of teaching by grammar — Difficulty and 
absurdity of such a course — Restoration of the original mode — 
Objections answered — Locke's system — Double translation — 
Synopsis of the plan — What time necessary for such a course — 
Opinions and practice of the masters and founders of earliest 
grammar schools, and other authorities — Conclusion 324 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 



OHAPTEB L 

In soliciting attention to the following pages, the 
writer begs to notice, in limine, that he is entering upon 
the investigation of a subject now claiming to be ranked 
not only as a distinct but most comprehensive science. 
Closely allied to theology, its discussion by parties of 
different religious views, has tended hitherto rather to 
mix it up with the sectarianism of peculiar denominations, 
than to define its own principles and prerogatives; and 
though so well calculated to promote the best civil 
interests of the entire community, it has more frequently 
been degraded into an instrument for serving the mere 
purposes of a faction. Thus, in most cases, where it has 
been made a public question, it has only been dragged 
into the arena of political and polemical strife, dealing 
wounds upon society, instead of administering its native 
healing agency to those already inflicted. The progress 
of truth, however, is gradually detaching it from such an 
unseemly warfare, unfolding its own high mission and 
noble aims, and gaining for it the consideration due to 
its importance as an essential and distinct element in the 
social constitution. It cannot, however, be denied, that 

B 



2 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

it is the duty of the legislator to regulate and control 
the general interests of education, or of the ecclesiastic 
to lend his efforts in promoting the same cause. But 
the same thing is no less true regarding every private 
individual to the extent of his personal and official influ- 
ence, which, indeed, is hut an extension of the same 
principle that pervades all nature from the inorganic 
creation upwards. By the law of gravity, the larger 
masses of matter exert an influence over the smaller, in 
controlling their operations and movements. A greater 
degree of heat produces an exuberance of fertility in 
one climate, and an excess of cold renders barren 
another. The parent hen fashions the instinctive cha- 
racter and habits of her brood, by the influence of 
example, and the language of nature ; and the propen- 
sities of all animals are modified by coming into contact 
with others of superior sagacity or a higher order. The 
senior child of a family is the unconscious instructor of 
his juniors, by exhibiting his own actions and movements 
as a model for their imitation ; and even in what he does 
teach actively, it being the pure impulse of nature, more 
character is often formed, and intellect evolved, than from 
the more formal lessons of an experienced adult. The 
parent is an educator of a higher class, combining a 
moral influence with the weight of his natural example. 
The master of a number of workmen has also an edu- 
cative power attached to his position ; and so, of course, 
in their respective spheres, have the politician and ecclesi- 
astic. But in all these different relations, the philosophy 
of an artificial education is never brought fully to bear 
upon the general purposes of life. Certain natural prin- 
ciples exercise an influence upon their legitimate objects; 
and, whether these operate actively or passively, upon 
matter or upon mind, a necessary obedience is yielded to 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. d 

their authority. In the inorganic and vegetable worlds, 
transformation is accomplished by the operation of a 
physical law ; and in animal nature a similar effect is 
produced by a principle of instinctive imitation and self- 
love. Nor even is it when the principles of an abstract 
education have been generalised from an observation of 
the preceding laws, combined and digested by the meta- 
physician into a system of didactic rules, and assumed 
by sections of society to advance some party scheme of 
benevolence, that their intrinsic power is fully manifested. 
The laws of education are designed by Providence to 
arrange the discordant elements of the entire moral crea- 
tion, and breathe an immortal existence into the universal 
mind. Instead of furthering the ends of many human 
alliances, they are intended to dissolve them, and remodel 
their constitutions upon a more philanthropic basis, to 
unloose the several knots that bind sections of society 
together, that the cords of affection and brotherly charity 
may be lengthened, so as to embrace- the whole family of 
man. They are too spiritual in their nature to promote 
most of the present arrangements of society, based as 
these generally are upon the superiority of selfish and 
factional interests. Yet would not this be the case, were 
our civil and religious institutions inherently and in 
reality what they profess to be — a means of promoting 
the essential and universal happiness cf man. Were 
they even as pure as their principles profess, it would 
be different; but any religious corporation, so far 
as the practically moral and physical welfare of the 
people is concerned in the present life, is either too 
worldly, or — with reverence be it spoken — too abstractly 
spiritual for the purpose. It is too worldly, inasmuch as 
its framework is necessarily established upon a pecuni- 
ary basis, with an adamantine bulwark of emoluments 

B 2 



4 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

around it that narrow and restrict the enterprises of its 
adherents within these prescribed limits. Besides, every 
social institution has a peculiar species of selfishness 
attached to it — a kind of aggregate reflection of the self- 
ishness of its individual members ; and thus, while the 
abstract principles upon which any society proposes to 
act, may tend to a universal good, their operation is 
often rendered nugatory for this end, by considerations 
affecting the mere interests of the society. And it is idle 
to say, that such a feeling pervades churches in any less 
degree than other civil institutions : while the* selfishness 
of political partisanship is proverbially notorious. Most 
religious societies are also too abstractly spiritual for the 
purposes of a temporal education, since their chief busi- 
ness is professedly concerned "• with things not of this 
life." Thus it is that, when any question such as that 
of modern education comes to be discussed by contend- 
ing parties of churchmen and politicians, it is treated by 
each according to the views most conducive to its own 
separate and social interests. The real merits of the ques- 
tion are soon merged, and become secondary matters in 
the unworthy, but all engrossing, struggle for ascendency. 
Yet of all subjects usually submitted to public atten- 
tion, it is certainly the best entitled to meet with a calm 
and dispassionate consideration, and to be discussed with 
Christian forbearance and courtesy, by people of different 
views in matters of religion. It is one of the great moral 
engines that Providence has put into the hands of man 
for ameliorating and elevating the condition of all ranks 
of society ; but, in accordance with his usual mode of 
procedure, it is entirely left to a probationary course. It 
depends, therefore, much upon the animus and skill of 
those who set it moving, and upon the objects towards 
which it may be directed, whether it produce its naturally 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

beneficial effects, or the contrary. If used for party 
purposes, and for gaining private ends, it will undoubt- 
edly be tlfe innocent cause of effectuating much evil ; for, 
being in itself an acknowledged good, the mischief thus 
insidiously done, like the administering of poison in 
some palatable viand, will ouly be the more concealed 
and fatal. And in many cases equally lamentable are its 
individual effects upon those on whom it has partially 
and prejudicially operated, giving, -for example, to the 
intellectual powers the aid of a heavenly light, by which 
the wicked purposes --of ..the heart may only be the more 
extensively, and the more fatally executed. Or, on the 
other hand, if an undue and improper application of it 
has been made -to the feelings, unenlightened by reason 
and intelligence, no less pernicious consequences will 
result. In either of these cases it is putting a sharp 
instrument into the hand- ; but unless the hand be taught 
how to wield it, the chances are not small indeed, that 
pain will only be inflicted upon the operator himself, or 
upon those around him. 

A rightly directed system of education is a moral 
power in the universe, second only to that creating Energy 
that formed and sustains in existence its material frame- 
work. It is, indeed, a co-operating with the same 
Divine influence — it is carrying into effect the very laws 
which the Creator has established for the moral renova- 
tion and perfection of the species, for admitting it to a 
glimpse of that intellectual radiance emanating from the 
" Father of lights," and for opening up, by the magic 
influences of love and affection, those springs of joy 
and gladness that have their source in every human 
heart, and that would flow forth and encircle the whole 
family of man in one vast flood of blessedness. That a 
matter of such importance, therefore, should ever be 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

turned aside from its legitimate purpose, and made sub- 
servient to a paltry spirit of partisanship, is lamentable 
in the extreme ; and indeed, only one of the effects of 
that partial education of which we have been speaking. 

Such being the case, there appears a strong necessity 
for detaching the whole business of education from its 
connexion with any religious or political party whatever, 
and making it practically manifest that it is a universal 
question, involving the highest interests of every indivi- 
dual, which can only be promoted by a just apprehension, 
and diffusion of its own abstract principles. It is not 
necessary to fortify this position against the charge 
of irreligion in the matter of education, as a perusal of 
the sequel must show such an attempt to be superfluous. 
Keligion has to do with everything in life, and of course 
with education too ; but no less wide is the difference 
between the pure principles of religion itself, and those 
that often govern the different societies of religious men, 
than between the essential laws of education and those 
religious associations. Education is an abstract sci- 
ence ; and when religion is also considered abstractedly, 
in practice the one becomes the handmaid of the other, 
because religion imposes an obligation upon each to 
advance the interests of all, and it is therefore a duty, 
among other means, to promote this end by diffusing 
the principles of education. 

As most differences on any subject originate in a want 
of properly defined terms, so the whole of this long 
agitated controversy seems entirely to hinge upon the 
want of a clear apprehension of these two questions, — 
What is a religious, and what is a general education ? 
The latter of these inquiries forms the chief topics in the 
following pages; and the former may be answered in the 
first place negatively, by sayingr, that religion is not 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. i 

confined to the " standards" of any church ; and con- 
sequently, whatever any religious society, in their corpo- 
rate capacity, allege, regarding a union of education 
with religion, must in general he received as a vague 
and indefinite idea. By the standards of a church, are of 
course meant those conventional regulations framed for 
its government and discipline; while the standards of 
natural and revealed religion, are the Bible and the works 
of nature. At the present moment the practical applica- 
tion of this union has been resolved into each separate 
sect having its separate schools ; and while undoubtedly 
much good may be done in this way, it is equally 
certain that a disunion of feeling is perpetuated, not only 
among these religious bodies themselves, but a sectional 
bias impressed upon the minds of the children of each 
respective school. It is a union of certain schools to 
certain churches, and a conformity of school books to 
particular creeds ; but it is no more a union of education 
to religion in the abstract, than the establishment of a 
factory school can be said to unite education to the 
science of cotton- spinning. It must be a purely reli- 
gious feeling, calling to its aid the instrumentality of 
those lately developed views regarding the training of 
the young, which apply to the whole family of man, 
whatever their speculative opinions on religion, politics, 
or philosophy, and, regardless of these differences, pro- 
moting their practical welfare, that deserves anything 
like the name of a union. " Pure religion and unde- 
filed," was never intended as a mere theological abstrac- 
tion, affording excitement to critical minds, so often 
tending to an alienation of the affections, but to lead 
those under its influence to practise its precepts. Edu- 
cation is thus subservient to the interests of religion, 
as the hand is united to the body and becomes the 



8 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

servant of the mind ; but this union can at the most be 
effected in a very partial manner, by its being made the 
mere instrument of a sect for sectarian purposes. 

Again, as an abstract science, it is a totally different 
thing from religion. The latter reaches beyond the pre- 
sent life, and treats of mysteries connected with the 
immortal spirit ; the former descends to the physical wants 
and necessities of man, even before he has-been ushered 
into existence, and from this,. -as a basis, proceeds to form 
those moral and intellectual tempers and habits that can 
alone serve as a sure foundation for a religious education. 
But inasmuch as two different ends are thus sought to be 
gained, so are the two influences in operation for those 
purposes two essentially different things. The founda- 
tion of a building is prepared by other. means and other 
instruments, than those employed in rearing the struc- 
ture : the earthly elements of the soiL must be displaced 
and arranged before the compact materials that raise the 
edifice to the skies are, called into use. 

A parallel between a religious and a general education 
may thus be drawn. The latter comprehends certain 
principles deduced and generalised from an acquaintance 
with the constitution and character of man. In ascer- 
taining what this character is, two sources are available 
■ — the book of nature and the book of revelation. By 
means of these it is found that he is a compound being, 
consisting of separate parts, the two great divisions of 
which are body and spirit. But as one tree may consist 
of many branches, so each of these distinct natures has a 
ramified and complicated existence of its own. The 
former exists by what are called organs; and, the latter, 
while in the body, manifests itself by means of faculties. 
Again, of these faculties there are several varieties, just as 
the body is composed of different organs, that is, as it 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. & 

appears, several modes by which the soul of man operates 
upon the body, and is affected by it ; and the two great 
divisions of these, again, are his mental and moral powers. 
The latter are said to be passive feelings, the former, active 
principles ; and a deduction from this is, that the whole 
nature of man is influenced in two ways,, actively and 
passively. 

Now, according to this description of the subject to be 
educated, an obvious inference arises, that a different 
influence must be applied to the different parts of man's 
mature. His bodily organs, from the largely developed 
limbs, to those microscopical and invisible tubes pervad- 
ing the whole interior of his frame, and from which are 
derived such incontestable proofs of a Divine mechanism, 
all demand care and attention of a nature peculiar to 
themselves. ;Hence is deduced the necessity of a physical 
education for. the complete development and healthy action 
of these powers. His intellect, also, requires an educa- 
tion peculiarly its own. It seems to subserve the spiritual 
nature in :a manner similar to that by which the stomach 
administers to the body. The latter requires aliment and 
exercise ; the former, information and reflection. To 
afford these in proper abundance, therefore, and of a suit- 
able nature, is an intellectual education. The moral 
faculties, again, demand a still different treatment. These 
being feelings, and consequently passive, must be quick- 
ened and drawn out into action, or, it may be, blunted 
and repressed — or, in plain language, good habits formed, 
and bad ones reformed. And as each of these processes 
implies external assistance and guidance, the necessity of 
a moral education is equally deducible. Education, then, 
divides itself into three great branches, physical, intel- 
lectual, and moral, each of a different kind, adapted to 
the different faculties of our nature. 

B 3 



10 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

On the other hand, a religious education is something 
above and beyond all this. The enlightened Christian, 
however, cannot fail to perceive in the general education 
of a community an analogous process to that of atmo- 
spheric action upon the face of nature. The once rocky 
surface, by the lapse of time and the attrition of thr 
atmosphere, becomes decomposed and pulverised into tin 
genial and fertile soil ; the dews and the rains of heaver, 
fall upon it. and the good seed is cast abroad, bringing 
forth fruit more or less according to its depth and culti- 
vation. And a moral and intellectual soil must also be 
spread over the ignorant and depraved masses of the 
people, before the seed of the word can be expected to 
take root and flourish and bring forth fruit. 

Nor, indeed, can this happy result be expected to take 
place by a mere process of indoctrinating into the prin- 
ciples of any church, as contained in her formularies and 
catechisms. The logical and scriptural definition of a 
religious education must be had, by assuming as data 
the definitions already laid down regarding the human 
character, adding, that every spiritual influence affecting 
the mind and the character is part of a religious educa- 
tion. And this influence maybe communicated in two 
ways, each of which may be seen by an illustration. A 
child brought up under illiterate and mentally ignorant 
but pious parents, may become habituated into all the 
duties of Christianity, and thus be brought under the 
power of vital religion by a kind of practically deductive 
process ; and another, born of Godless parents, may have 
his mind enlightened in the knowledge of Christ by 
means of Sabbath-school instruction, and thus, also, 
become a practical Christian. Those different influences, 
however, derive their efficacy from the same source, and are 
simply the truths of revelation, operating upon the heart 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 11 

and conscience. A religions education is, therefore, a 
unique thing, having for its object the immortal spirit, 
and its instrument, the word of God. But almost an 
equally important question remains yet to he answered: 
What are those truths, the communicating of which forms 
a religious education ? And the answer is, The essential 
doctrines of the Gospel, so plainly revealed, that he that, 
runneth may read them. Yet as there is no principle so 
sacred, no doctrine so holy, that may not he perverted to 
party ends and selfish purposes, so around these truths, 
in many cases, has been thrown a covering of error, gilded 
and polished it may be ; but fatal error still ; and to com- 
municate even truth in this way, is simply the true way 
to communicate error. 

Our position then is, that, were education more relieved 
from its present fragmentary and sectional character, and 
its benevolent abettors combined in practice as in prin- 
ciple, — were it made a neutral question, and a common 
ground, upon which men of different sentiments in politics 
and religion could meet and fraternise, such a scene 
would exhibit, both in idea and reality, a union of the 
really homogeneous elements of religion and general 
education. It would be seen, too, how vast a power has 
lately been evoked for the welfare of man, but how sadly 
crippled by his own unseemly divisions. Like the 
streamlets of a country flowing in different channels, and 
ready to be dried up at the approach of summer, but, when 
united, rolling along in an irresistible current, irrigating 
the lands through which it flows, and carrying health ami 
comfort along its course, so would the combined efforts of 
such a Christian union diffuse the blessings of moral 
health and happiness over the wide extent of the land. 

What is there in life, indeed, that man desires and 
hopes for, that is not involved in the consideration of 



12 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 



this question ? Even wealth and rank, with all their fasci- 
nations, unless the possessor of them has been imbued 
with correct moral and intellectual principles, pall upon 
the senses, and often only the more speedily accelerate 
his ruin ; whereas to the man of cultivated mind and 
refined habits, a perennial spring of delights is thus 
opened up. And a far nobler object of ambition is his who, 
subduing his own selfish desires and feelings, acts upon 
the impulse of a diffusive benevolence, in promoting the 
happiness of a community, than that which prompts the 
warrior or the statesman to aim at wielding the destinies 
of an empire. But with longing eyes and ardent aspira- 
tions men still struggle on through life grasping at these 
vain shadows, and overlooking the solid advantages of 
moral power and usefulness within the reach of every one. 
And what forms the true happiness and virtuous ambition 
of an individual, or of a family,is no less that of the whole 
of society. What pleasure on earth is so great to a reflect- 
ing and fond parent, as to see his .children growing up 
around him intelligent and amiable, forming an atmo- 
sphere of happiness around his home, and reflecting from 
their bright faces the joy that gladdens his own heart ? 
In such a scene it is, that he forgets the exhaustion of 
his frame, or his mental anxieties in adversity, that his 
wounded spirit finds a balm, and derives new courage 
for future exertions, and in the innocence of their unpol- 
luted minds and affections, that he obtains bright glimpses 
of a better world. Yet without the operation of a correct 
system of guidance and control, the same household 
might become a focus for the concentration of everything 
repulsive in humanity. 

Now extend an application of the same principles that 
render home a paradise, to the national family, and what 
a scene for the contemplation of the philanthropist ! Nor 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 13 

is it a vain chimera, or a Utopian dream, in which educa- 
tionists indulge, when they anticipate from a realisation 
of their principles such happy results, as a country living 
under the influence of a purely moral government. It is 
hut a question of time. The excellence and. necessity of 
such a principle are admitted in point of fact, and it is 
only individual and imaginary interests that stand in the 
way of its practical consummation. 

The pecuniary and physical advantages of society still 
hold a preponderance in the consideration of those in 
power, and while these are adapted to the lower feelings 
and instincts of humanity, that hold so powerful a sway 
over the masses, and influence in some degree all ranks, 
there is still a fearfully indurated surface over the 
national mind, through which the lender plants of 
morality and intellect must struggle long ere they attain 
a pre-eminence. Yet in the struggle they must ultimately 
prevail; and it is this upheaving of mind above > matter, 
the substitution of intellect for brute force, andkindness 
for violence, that will alone effect the final renovation 
of society. Criminal codes may become milder, and the 
same vindictive , process of punishments be diluted into 
the separate, silent, and solitary systems, but the ada- 
mantine mass- of corruption <and crime will be still un- 
dissolved. There must be a superstratum of intelli- 
gence and .morality formed over the infant mind of the 
community that shall eventually rise upwards, and, by 
the warmth of a philanthropic affection, burst asunder 
the rocky surface of vice, and the iron bands of a 
physical, domination, ere the fruits of virtue appear, to 
form the last era in the moral geology of the human 
mind. 

Looking at the history of man, as exhibiting a gradual 
progress to perfection from a state of animalism to 



14 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

spirituality, I should therefore be disposed to say that 
the present era is that distinguished by the superiority 
of pure intellect. So far as history informs us, no nation 
ever yet attained to such pre-eminence either in point of 
inventive genius or extent of information. The physical 
strength of armies has been prostrated before this gigantic 
power ; the waves of the ocean rendered harmless and 
made the highway of nations ; the violence of storm and 
tempest turned aside; the everlasting mountains levelled 
and thrown into the sea; men hurry over the sur- 
face of the earth with a rapidity rivalling the denizens 
of air, and. equal to the lightning's speed the very 
thoughts and emotions of the mind can traverse space 
and awaken kindred thoughts in distant minds. To say, 
therefore, that the happiness of mankind is not infinitely 
increased by this subjugation of matter to mind, and the 
infusion of a universal spirit into inanimate nature 
would be obviously erroneous. But, humiliating as the 
statement may be, truth compels the admission, that it is 
a happiness resulting more from its own inherent and 
inseparable connexion with these improvements, than 
from any benevolent intention in the originators of 
them. 

To every physical law of nature there is some latent 
moral benefit attached, and by the discovery and appli- 
cation of the former the latter is necessarily evolved. 
The projectors of a railway advocate the claims of a 
certain district in which they have a pecuniary and com- 
mercial interest, and if they are men of influence the 
line is formed, and thousands of other individuals are 
collaterally benefited. Yet who would say that such 
men were the moral benefactors of their neighbourhood ? 
Does a shareholder invest his capital in any scheme that 
merely promises an advantage to a community, without 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 15 

first considering the dividends likely to accrue to himself 
from the speculation ? It may as well be asserted, that 
when Napoleon promised to liberate the Poles fromEussian 
tyranny, their freedom was his ultimate design. Had he 
done so, however, they would have been benefited; but in 
freeing them he merely contemplated the advancement 
of his own ambitious ends, and he would have deserved 
no gratitude at their hands even had he given them 
liberty. The patriot, too, spending his wealth and 
exhausting his energies in schemes that issue in the 
substantial good of his country, has too often within his 
heart of hearts a feeling, that he may even delude him- 
self into believing an honourable ambition, but when 
analysed by the test of motives, will be found only a 
preference of the world's applause to a more sordid 
selfishness. And how much miscalled charity is there 
in the world ! Men die and found institutions for re- 
lieving the distressed, and their names get embalmed in 
the memories of their countrymen as the benefactors of 
their species ; but, viewed in the calm light of reason, they 
may merit no such honourable recollection. The neediest 
beggar soliciting an alms from the same individuals, when 
alive, might have failed to move their sympathies to the 
extent of a sixpence if the world saw not the deed. 

Sorry, too, must every philanthropist be to depreciate 
the vast efforts made for the Christianisation of the 
heathen, yet it is somewhat difficult to look upon those 
vast assemblages annually held in Exeter Hall, and listen 
to many of the speeches addressed there, more to the 
feelings than the understandings of an audience, with- 
out questioning at least much of the moral and practical 
utility of such exertions. It may be uncharitable to add 
that, in many of the speakers, the mere glory of being 
listened to and applauded by thousands, and read by 



16 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

tens of thousands in the periodicals of the day, forms 
the entire secret of their benevolent. zeal; while a high- 
pressure system of religious fervour is thus created in 
the minds of- the people, leading their sympathies more 
in favour of schemes for diffusing , among barbarous 
nations the mere theology of Christianity, than its prac- 
tical and essential benefits among the neglected at 
home. 

^Equally unhealthy in its nature is such fitful en- 
thusiasm to that morbid feeling of sentimentality induced 
upon the minds of many young persons by the repre- 
sentation of a tragedy or the perusal of a. novel. -Every 
one knows the spurious nature of such romance-en- 
gendered sympathy, and its influence even in hardening 
the mind against real sorrow. People like to have their 
sympathies awakened by ideal woes: they give a false 
and intoxicating excitement to the feelings, which, sub- 
siding into their ordinary, channel, cannot be so easily 
called forth by the real sufferings of daily life. They 
will expend money upon books of fiction, because it is a 
cheaper and more luxurious way of gratifying their 
feelings than by entering the abodes of misery, and 
feeding, warming, and clothing the poor: and a similar 
influence is apparent in many of those who subscribe to 
foreign missionary enterprises. They pay for the grati- 
fication of a romantic though a religious passion, as others 
pay for a box at the theatre or the last new novel. If 
the objects of their benevolence be not altogether ideal, 
they form at least a medium between the fictitious heroes 
of a romance, and the destitute poor immediately under 
their own eyes. But the idea is much more poetical, 
and withal more gratifying to the cravings of vanity, to 
be enrolled as a subscriber to a society whose every deed 
comes under the eve of the world, than to go forth, and 



PHILOSOPHY .OF TRAINING. 1 7 

enter the dense masses of misery and moral desolation 
witkin a few hundred yards from Exeter Hall, and, 
without the aid of declamation or the eloquence of 
poetry, look into the faces of God's creatures starving 
under the very sound of words that sympathise with 
the .natives of a distant land, and in the .true spirit of 
Christian philanthropy alleviate their pressing wants, 
** not letting the right Jiand know what ;the left hand 
doeth." 

Another fashionable mode by -which many are deluded 
into the belief that . they are acting upon a charitable 
motive, is the masquerading idea of a bazaar. To 
walk through , one of these . fancy fairs and examine 
the various articles of bijouterie exposed for sale, - can- 
not fail to inspire something like a conviction of the 
misdirected ingenuity of ,the minds .that have de- 
vised and the hands that have elaborated them. In 
such places there is often presented an array of 
toys for grown-up people, many of them of a .most 
complicated nature, but of no earthly use, except to 
afford the indication of a latent energy and genius in 
the female mind that as, yet have found .no field for their 
legitimate .development. And in a moral point of view 
the very excitement caused by such a public display has 
an effect the very reverse of that contemplated, in 
drawing away the mind and inclination from the pure 
feeling and unostentatious practice of. charity. Even a 
spirit of envious commercial rivalry is often manifested 
on such occasions, leading the occupants of neigh- 
bouring stalls to regard each other with a feeling very 
unlike that " charity which thinketh no evil and is not 
easily provoked." 

Last in the list of these self- deluding schemes of 
philanthropy, the very name of a charity ball needs only 



18 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

to be mentioned to call up in the mind one of the most 
incongruous ideas that artificial life has yet presented to 
the world. An appeal is here made to feelings the very- 
opposite to those of charity, for a charitable end. The 
charitable feeling is, therefore, not only not evoked, but 
deadened: and even if a temporary purpose be served 
by making people thus impose upon their own con- 
victions, the true sources of an active and permanent 
sympathy are dried up. It is holding out a bribe to 
hypocrisy, and forcing people into the belief that they 
are giving money to the poor, when they are only sacri- 
ficing at the shrine of their own pleasure ; or at the 
best it is adding an unnatural stimulant to produce the 
fruits of charity, while it permanently injures the soil 
on which they grow. What a mockery of his sorrows 
would the poor man feel it to be, were, he to enter one of 
these gilded ; saloons and gaze upon the rich dresses and 
sparkling gems of the merry dancers, and be told that all 
this was done in mercy to him — that these gay revellers 
were the charitable men and women who felt for his 
wants, and had compassion on his woes ! Were he to 
draw a moral under such circumstances he might 
naturally say, that if such a lever power were necessary 
to excite sympathy with sorrow, how vain would be the 
attempt to move such frivolous hearts to a charitable 
deed by a simple representation of misery itself! 

God forbid, however, that I should here be thought 
involving in one general charge of selfishness all who 
are engaged in the benevolent enterprises enumerated. 
I know there is on earth the existence of a disinterested 
philanthropy, and often, under favourable circumstances, 
does it show itself above the dead level of a worldly 
morality. I know there are men and women who have 
learned the luxury of doing good, and go about the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 



19 



world diffusing happiness from the purest of motives. 
But a very small knowledge of the human heart and 
intercourse with the world, is necessary to convince any 
one that such form the exception, not the rule, of daily 
life. Neither should I be thought cavilling at those 
conventional arrangements themselves, many of which 
have done great good to society. My object has simply 
been to analyse the .motives originating sueh schemes ; 
and though it is not the province; of man to decide upon 
these individually, there is unfortunately too much evi- 
dence always at hand to inspire a doubt regarding the 
pureness and disinterestedness of the great majority of 
them, and to show the necessity of some new moral 
agency being applied to this part of man's nature, mmnely, 
a rig/Jut education of the motives sf his conduct. 

In all these instances, too, however selfish may be the 
impelling motives, the actions themselves invariably 
educe some moral good ; and while one looks in vain to 
man to aid in the development of a higher guiding 
impulse, the inevitable course of events seems tending to 
a speedy subjugation of the tyranny of reason, and the 
ultimate establishment of a moral government. It is, 
therefore, alike the duty and the interest of man to deduce 
a rule of conduct from this arrangement of nature, in 
which the ultimate design of every organised being, and 
of every moral event, is the diffusion of a universal hap- 
piness, and by acting upon- this principle co-operate with 
Providence to the same end. Every new discovery in the 
works of nature proves that the Almighty Mind itself is 
obedient to the dictates of goodness, and, in the contriv- 
ance of its most complicated plans, that Omniscience has 
only a benevolent moral end in view. 



CHAP TEE II. 

Taxing a hasty review of the -history of education, with 
its rise and progress as an art, there is found abundant 
evidence of its inherent power for good when under the 
guidance of benevolent motives, but for evil when mis- 
directed in its objects or partial in its operations. To 
pursue this inquiry , to its source, is a parallel investiga- 
tion to that of tracing the rise .and progress of language, 
for by this alone can we, with any certainty, discover 
the gradual development of the universal mind. This 
subject, however, shrouded as it is in the mist of ages, 
and necessarily extending to a period when no contem- 
poraneous record existed, is. a ^question regarding which 
little more than vague conjectures can be formed. 
It is like one starting from the embouchure of. some 
mighty river to explore its far distant source amid the 
wild and lonely desert, or the bosom of some inaccessible 
mountain range. As the traveller advances, he perceives 
the parent stream gradually diminishing above the junc- 
tion of each successive tributary, until it shrinks into the 
tiny brooklet and the gurgling rill oozing in thread-like 
currents from the bosom of the earth ; but while he thus 
gazes upon its visible source, a veil of obscurity hangs 
over the further progress of his search, and he still 
remains undecided, whether to ascribe the formation of 



FHILO SOPHY OF TRAUHNG. 21 

this fountain to the explosion of subterranean vapours, 

or the precipitation of the rains of heaven. So is it 
with the literary traveller m quest of the origin of lan- 
o-uao-e and education. He sees all around him these 
phenomena now existing in a state of great perfection, 
and dirxusinsr a flood of intelligence over the earth;, he 
can track their course far up the stream of time even to 
their rudest beginnings in the communicating and per- 
petuating of the simplest ideas, hut., like the origin of the 
river, he can with no certainty determine whether they 
have not originated as an invention of man himself or 
descended upon him as a bright gift from heaven. 

According to Dr. Blair, this inquiry naturally resolves 
itself into two branches — " First, whether man, being 
originally endowed with the faculty of speech, or having 
bestowed upon him that- peculiar organisation by which 
he is enabled to-articulate sounds, stimulated by a desire 
for increased social enjoyments and guided by his mental 
powers, gradually formed language: or whether, in addi- 
tion to this power, the germs or elements of language 
were also conferred upon him: these are questions, how- 
ever, that cannot be answered with any certainty." In 
support of the former opinion, it is urged that the history 
of all languages shows a gradual advancement to per- 
fection from the rudest beginnings, and that at no point 
of their history are traces wanting of their having existed 
in a still ruder state — that, in short, the progress of a lan- 
guage in all cases keeps pace with the civilisation of a 
people, and that as there was a period when the civilisa- 
tion of every people began, or that they emerged out of 
a state of entire barbarism ; so also must have been the 
course of their language. " This opinion must, therefore, 
in a great measure, stand or fall according to the truth 
or error of the latter supposition, namely, that man being 



22 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 

at first a solitary savage, gradually emerged out of bar- 
barism, and formed the social union simply from his own 
perception of its superior advantages, which opinion is 
not only unsupported by any evidence, but contrary to 
Scripture, so that the idea of man originally inventing 
and constructing language seems somewhat difficult of 
entertaining." 

Nor can one see, if this be the case, why some of the 
inferior tribes should not also have acquired a degree of 
artificial language, for it is certain that many of them 
possess the power of uttering, both in number and variety, 
a sufficiency of vocal sounds to form a tolerably copious 
language ; wdiile their mental capacity, in many cases, is 
anything but inferior to that of the barbarians. What 
cement or mortar is to the consolidation of the natural 
building, language is to the moral structure of society. 
In the former, the materials are prepared previously to 
their combination by the hands of the mechanic : and the 
Great Architect of human society appears to have pre- 
pared for man not only the faculty but the elements of 
speech, and, having implanted in his nature the desire 
and necessity of social union, insured the ultimate erec- 
tion of the social fabric in the diffusion of these self- 
educating elements among mankind. 

The origin of language, however, is scarcely more obscure 
than the commencement of an artificial education, for the 
former being an art, the communicating of it to others by 
speech or writing, even in its rudest form, must have been 
necessary to its perpetuity, and, therefore, contemporaneous 
with its origin. In like manner, whatever other art or 
science became afterwards known to man would evolve, at 
the same time, certain modes of communicating it to others. 
Yet the latter of these could find no channel to flow in, 
until prepared by the instrumentality of language. Many 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 23 

branches of art may be taught without the aid of lan- 
guage, but no science can. Hence many rude arts may 
have flourished long before many families of the human 
race had acquired even a spoken language; just as we see 
certain inferior animals imitate others in the construction 
of their dwellings and modes of procuring their prey ; 
but science, and even theoretical morality, are the pure 
offspring of language. 

Among the lower tribes, however, there can be no art 
properly so called, that is, an art originating in reflection 
and perpetuated by speech. Their feelings and wants 
suggest their contrivances aided by that mysterious prin- 
ciple called instinct, always leading them to act aright 
whether from the impulse of imitation or necessity. It 
may, indeed, be difficult to define that wonderful inge- 
nuity manifested by so many of them in their social and 
physical arrangements. Yet it cannot be called art, or 
skill, as these terms are applied to human actions, 
because there is no progressive improvement in their 
education, similar to that of man. And if they have 
none of this artificial skill, much less have they any 
scientific ingenuity, which entirely depends upon abstrac- 
tions communicable by speech or writing. Their instinct 
would almost seem to be the operation of some organic 
law of the brain, producing in certain aoimals as inva- 
riable a routine of actions as the chemical law that per- 
petuates the same disposition of colours in certain species 
of birds. Like the coral insects of the Pacific, capable 
only of raising their submarine islands to the surface of 
the ocean, this animal intellectuality can only rise to one 
uniform level, since beyond this the scaffolding of an 
artificial education can find no foundation to rest upon, 
affording the means of elevating it into the regions of 
abstraction. 



24 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

Yet, after all, man is only a more' rational animal than 
an elephant, or a dog, a bee, an ant, or a beaver; these, 
again, only a little superior to others of the lower tribes ; 
and it is impossible to say, whether it may not actually 
be the very same principles that combine, in giving intel- 
lectuality to a brute, that, operating under different cir- 
cumstances, produce the genius of a Newton, or the fancy 
of a Milton. The instinct of the inferior animals, and 
the reasoning powers of man, are merely different names 
for what seems to be essentially the same thing, only 
varying in its degrees of perfection and capability of 
enlargement. The reason that a beast arrives at a- cer- 
tain stage of perfection which it cannot pass, is, because 
it receives its full complement of ideas from nature 
alone. The intellect of a brute may be said to be com- 
posed of materials less expansive than those which 
constitute the mind of man, but that they are of the 
same inherent nature, there can be little doubt. The 
grand difference seems to be in man's capabilities of 
availing himself of external resources in the development 
of his mind. The faculty of speech, and of exchanging 
ideas with those of his own species, and the other mate- 
rial means which he has at command in preserving alive 
the coinage of his brain, have formed a world of thought 
and' feeling around him, into which the inferior creation 
can. never penetrate. But, when we consider the supe- 
riority that one man has over another, and one nation 
over another, when possessed of the means of acquiring 
and transmitting knowledge, we have the key to the 
mystery of his superiority over the lower animals. And, 
upon the whole, the difference is much greater between 
an artificially educated person and a savage, than between 
that savage and one of the irrational tribes. 

And even without the aid of artificial language, to 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 26 

what a high pitch of sagacity do many of them attain, 
displaying a perception of cause and effect, anticipating 
consequences, and acting upon fixed purposes, that 
plainly evince then' possession of many faculties strictly 
akin to those of man ; so that with no more certainty 
may we conclude that the mechanism of a watch implies 
the existence of an intelligent contriver, or the works of 
nature prove the heing of a God, than the mathematical 
precision of a honey-comb, or the architecture of an ant's 
hill, demonstrates the existence of that identical design- 
ing principle which is denominated mind. 

And no less plainly do they manifest the signs of the 
most acute and sensitive feelings. The patient drome- 
dary, smarting under a sense of his injuries, from his 
overtasked powers, sinks, and dies of a broken heart ! 
The melancholy look, and big round tears of the hunted 
stag, or fawn-rifled doe, portray the agony of feeling 
within ! The indication of their loves, their hopes, 
their fears, their sorrows, their gratitude, their social 
dispositions, and their resentful propensities, all tends 
to show, that in the amount of their innate endowments, 
they are not so immeasurably behind man. Indeed, 
in many cases, could we imagine them gifted with the 
single additional faculty of speech, there would be little 
perceptible mental difference. 

This faculty of articulating sounds, to represent the 
flow of ideas in the mind, is therefore one of the mighti- 
est importance in the whole moral economy of nature. 
Although it seems to be the only disconnecting link be- 
tween man and the subordinate creatures, it has placed 
him infinitely above them in the scale of moral and mental 
excellence. By the interchange of thought and senti- 
ment effected by this means, and the other mechanical 
contrivances for immortalising the existence of his ideas, 

c 



26 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

he enters within the boundaries of a spiritual world, 
thus conjured up around him. It is adding wings to his 
other endowments, by which he soars far above the lower 
tribes, and rejoices in an atmosphere entirely his own. 
Upon the whole, therefore, although man, in his • natural 
capacity and endowments, may be superior, originally, to 
the lower tribes, it is to his education alone that his dis- 
tinguishing and peculiar characteristics are to be traced. 
It is this that makes him altogether what he is ; enabling 
him to shed a glow of happiness on all around, and 
affording him the means of indulging in those abstract and 
lofty contemplations, denied to the less favoured tribes. 
In his case, the tree of knowledge may have indeed been 
planted in a more fertile soil; but it is to education, 
like the genial influences of the sun, and the fertilising 
showers, that its progress to maturity is chiefly to be 
traced. To a beast the same capabilities of cultivating 
and expanding the sentient principles are denied, and 
hence the limited development of their faculties. 

In generalising a system of artificial education, there- 
fore, these principles must ever be borne in mind. It is 
not so much the inherent superiority of man's intellectual 
endowments, much less of his physical strength, that gives 
him a pre-eminence in nature, but the application of a 
course of training to these, unknown to the lower 
animals. Yet there is no small danger in its application. 
It should be made instrumental only in assisting nature. 
Wherever nature points out the way, education should 
lead ; but the guidance of nature herself should never be 
overlooked or disregarded. A course of training is a 
lever power applied to many of the same faculties that 
we possess in common with the lower animals, for raising 
them to a higher state of excellence ; but if it be not also 
applied to the motives of action, it will only be increasing 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 



27 



the same aggressive system which animals pursue in gra- 
tifying their propensities. And if a greater application of 
it be made to the mental faculties than to the moral and 
spiritual nature of man, however wonderful may be his 
discoveries in art and science, they will only become addi- 
tional means of furthering his own individual selfishness. 
The earliest indications of mental development are to 
be found among the Egyptians. It was in Egypt that 
the means of diffusing and perpetuating knowledge by 
hieroglyphical writings were first discovered. These 
writings, as is well known, are simply pictures of objects, 
each one of which represents some understood idea. In 
their first stage they only represent objects; next, con- 
crete ideas; and lastly, abstractions. In this the infancy 
of the world's literature, showing the gradual unfolding 
of the universal mind, there is a beautiful analogy with the 
opening intellect of a child, and from which an admirable 
lesson of inductive teaching may also be drawn. He 
sees a tree, and, in its absence, recalls it to memory by 
some mysterious process of picturing upon the brain. 
Thus an idea of the tree is formed upon the mind, which 
may be called the first mental hieroglyphic, analogous to 
the tree carved upon stone. He sees one object tall and 
another short, one white and another black, and thus an 
idea of colour and size is formed, but only in connexion 
with these objects, which must also be pictured on the 
memory before the quality of size or colour can be recol- 
lected — a process entirely analogous to representing the 
same concrete idea in a symbolic picture. Lastly, the 
absolute idea of size or colour is formed by abstracting 
it from particular objects and applying it universally. 
But while the unlettered mind of a child, or of a savage, 
may be capable of thus generalising to a certain extent, — 
and a similar process may, perhaps, even take place in 

c 2 



28 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the inferior animals, — the discovery of a mode by which 
such ideas and their reflections could be materialised, 
made visible, and perpetuated to remotest ages, was the 
dawning of a new and an immortal existence upon 
mankind. 

This was effected, first, by a certain disposition of the 
pictures ; next, by abbreviations of them ; and then by 
arbitrary marks that ultimately formed themselves into an 
alphabet, representing sound, however, not objects. In 
the same way the ideas of virtue and vice, and all the 
more spiritual thoughts and emotions, are gradually 
formed in the mind of a child from the concrete to the 
abstract. To speak to a child of dishonesty without 
showing an impersonation of the vice, in the hero of some 
narrative, is simply to utter so many unmeaning sounds ; 
but when the goodness or badness of some individual is 
seen, it can easily be abstracted and applied in other 
parallel cases. In its progress to a system of abstract 
terms, the universal mind has taken a course precisely 
similar. It first depicted animals in which certain quali- 
ties are predominant, as the representatives of these 
qualities, afterwards abbreviations of them, — which is a 
similar process to that in the mind of a child gradually 
forming its abstract notions, but occasionally referring to 
some impersonation as a help and illustration, — and 
finally, the arbitrary letters forming the purely abstract 
word or name of the idea. A striking inference from 
this is, that as all ideas are formed in the mind of a child 
before it knows their names, such should be the proper 
course of instructing him in every branch of study — that 
ideas of sensation should be first cultivated, next his 
reflective faculties, and that the moral virtues and vices 
should be exhibited in concretion before abstractedly. 

In the increasing copiousness and literalisation of Ian- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 29 

guage. therefore, may be seen the most evident indications 
of the expansion of the human mind, and the accumula- 
tion of knowledge. No sooner did the ancient priests of 
Egypt thus find a vehicle for transmitting their thoughts, 
than the sciences increased, the arts flourished, and the 
most just and beautiful conceptions of morals were 
elicited. But as in their earliest stages these were all 
wrapped up in symbols, and taught only by the priests to 
certain classes, their practical benefit in enlightening and 
moralising the people, was comparatively small. These 
symbols would be to them as unintelligible as the words of 
the English tongue are to an unlearned child. While 
the priests knew the metaphysical truths contained in 
them, they would only present to the people objects for 
stupid wonder; and as many of the moral qualities were 
represented by the pictures of animals, this veneration 
would naturally attach to their prototypes, and in propor- 
tion to the importance of particular qualities, would the 
animals representing them receive veneration and worship 
by the uninitiated. 

What, then, is this but a similar error in training to that 
of the present day, in teaching children the mere words 
of a language without its ideas, — marks without meaning 
and sound without sense ? And it ought to abate much of 
our contempt for the superstitious Egyptians in worship- 
ping their innumerable deities, when we consider the 
worship we ourselves pay to so many of the mere sounds 
and words of our own English tongue. With what 
unmeaning awe and wonder do many persons listen to the 
hyperboles and inflated metaphors of some popular 
orator, and to the very sound of certain words, to which 
they can attach no definite ideas ! And even in the 
enlightened world, too, how many mere conventional 
phrases are all but worshipped among men of all ranks ! 



30 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

Much of the mythology of all countries must have 
arisen from this species of language training ; and many 
superstitions may be traced to it, which have even a hold 
on the popular mind of the present day. In Egypt, where 
the people were extending their knowledge of the laws 
of nature and of abstract truths, without the means of 
expressing them otherwise than by symbol and personifi- 
cation, a system of mythology would naturally arise out 
of such circumstances. The attributes of nature, the 
passions and feelings of the mind, were always invested 
with a substantial character, and their influences repre- 
sented as the acts of living agents ; and though the true 
sense of these figures might be recognised by the refined 
and the liberal, the great majority of the people would 
only regard them as a sort of minor deities, or genii. 

Hence the origin of that error in education that appeals 
to the venerative faculties without enlightening the judg- 
ment. The Egyptians were trained up to feelings of 
mere ignorant wonder regarding morality and religion ; 
and we are told that, as some cities worshipped certain 
animals which others disregarded, the most violent 
battles occasionally took place amongst them — a striking- 
parallel to the wordy warfare of many of the religious con- 
troversies of the present day. Besides, in the schools of 
antiquity it is always the mere teaching of morality that 
is mentioned, which is but an intellectual exercise, 
and powerless in regulating conduct. The duties of 
morality and virtue can only be taught properly in prac- 
tice ; and then, indeed, it matters little whether a theo- 
retical knowledge of them be taught or not. 

Among the Egyptians, a striking contrast is presented 
in the course of their speculative knowledge on morals 
and religion to that of their physical sciences. The 
former, at the best, being mere opinions of right and 
wrong, and a blind enthusiasm regarding divine worship 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 31 

without an application of these opinions to the purposes 
of daily life, led them ultimately into the most extrava- 
gant excesses of idolatry and vice. It was simply know- 
ledge without wisdom which they possessed, the imbibing 
of an abstract religion into the head, through an implicit 
faith, without being habituated to its duties, through a 
previous cultivation of the feelings and habits. Whereas 
their knowledge of the physical sciences was called 
into immediate action, and thus the arts nourished. 
" Every man," we are told, " had his way of life assigned 
to him, and it was perpetuated from father to son. Two 
professions at one time, or a change from that which a 
man was born to, were never allowed. By this means 
men became more able and expert in employments which 
they had always exercised from infancy, and every man 
adding his own experience to that of his ancestors, was 
more capable of attaining perfection in his particular art. 
From this source flowed numberless inventions for the 
improvement of all the arts, and for rendering life more 
easy and commodious." It was, therefore, to this system 
of professional and practical training, not to its abstract 
speculations, that Egypt owed its riches and plenty, its 
glory and magnificence. It was this linking of art to 
science, of practice to invention, that opened up those 
fountains of wisdom which flowed forth into all lands, 
and of which Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, Lycurgus, Solon, 
and a host of other sages and philosophers imbibed their 
earliest draughts. 

Turning from Egypt, as the land on which the artifi- 
cial light of education first dawned, to other countries, 
we see in many of them a reflection of the same errors 
just mentioned, but operating with a more or less bane- 
ful influence, according to the various habits of the 
people and their different degrees of intelligence. And 
in proportion to the ignorance of each country, or its 



32 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

distance from the source whence the light of metaphysical 
knowledge first streamed, does the mere reflection of the 
light itself become fainter, tending rather to bewilder 
than enlighten the people. It is like a benighted tra- 
veller proceeding on his way by the rays of a lamp that 
iliuiniijate only a small circle around his path, but as an 
impenetrable wall of darkness lies beyond, he suddenly 
stumbles into some pitfall, or loses his footing on the 
brink of a precipice. Had he trusted only to the 
natural light of the heavens, his vision would have com- 
manded a wider range, and if it was less brilliant, it 
would not at least have dazzled and deceived him ; or, if 
not thus fatal, the glare falling upon surrounding objects, 
rendering them hideous and distorted to his sight, would 
only incite his terror and alarm, paralysing his reason 
and conjuring up to his mind the most uncouth fancies. 

In Carthage, there is a striking instance of the baneful 
effects of mythological terrorism in the cniel habits it 
induced among the people, and the mischievous power 
afforded by the partial light of science, in distorting 
human nature, when under the influence of selfish mo- 
tives. The training of a national character is in every 
respect similar to that of individual education. It is the 
feelings and affections of the heart which furnish the 
impulses of conduct ; and whatever be the particular bias 
given to the former in infancy, the conduct through life 
will have a tendency in the same direction. Carthage, 
the daughter of Tyre, the most commercial city in the 
world, inherited all her parent's propensities for traffic, 
and these being brought into vigorous activity by means 
of the wealth of Dido, between her followers and the 
surrounding inhabitants of Utica, at once stamped a 
commercial character upon the infant colony. 

The manners, language, customs, laws, and religion of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 33 

the Carthaginians, were all grafted upon a spirit of com- 
mercial enterprise, or arose out of it. The people were 
descended from the Tyrians, whose language they spoke, 
which was a dialect or collateral branch of the Hebrew 
and Canaanitish, and they were called Pceni, or Phoeni, 
because they originally came from Phenicia. Here it 
was, then, that letters were invented, and the Poenic, or 
Punic, or Carthaginian language had also its birth. 

Let it be remarked here, that in its first application as 
a vehicle for diffusing the previous knowledge of a people, 
literal writing can only be employed in making a trans- 
lation or decipheration of hieroglyphics. In doing so, 
the names of the pictures are substituted for the pictures 
themselves. The relation and position these bear to one 
another, are thus capable of being explained and eluci- 
dated by conjunctive and auxiliary words. In symbols 
this connexion may be understood by the initiated, but 
cannot be represented except in literal writing. Hence 
the origin of the metaphor and allegory, which simply 
arise out of a series of objects deciphered into their re- 
spective names, their connexion illustrated by additional 
words, and the whole forming a continuous tale or narra- 
tive. Thus the ideas originally intended to be conveyed 
become enveloped in a double vehicle, and their esoteric- 
sense rendered more obscure. But the exoteric or out- 
ward meaning of such allegories immediately appeals to 
the concrete understanding of a rude people, and while it 
captivates their fancy, finds a ready access to their faith. 

Even at the present day, on looking back through 
the transparencies of modem literature upon those 
images and spectral forms that mark its commencement, 
standing out in bold relief through the long vista of cen- 
turies, one is apt to smile at the grossness of the writer's 
conceptions of metaphysical truths, or merely to be 

c 3 



34 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

pleased with the beautiful fictions detailed ; but a closer 
examination often shows that those personifications em- 
body the most beautiful moral lessons and correct facts. 
For example, when Homer, in describing the quarrel 
between Achilles and Agamemnon in the war council of 
the Greeks, in which the former was in the act of drawing 
his sword against the " king of men," wishes to show 
that the prudence of Achilles on second thoughts with- 
held his hand, he introduces Minerva, who is represented 
as laying her hand upon the warrior's arm, and whis- 
pering counsel into his ear. Wisdom, or prudence, is 
here personified as a goddess interfering in the affairs 
of men. But while Homer meant to convey no fiction 
by this mode of expression, it was enough to create or 
perpetuate a belief in the existence of such a being. 
In this allegorical form, therefore, was it, that the my- 
thology of Egypt was transfused into all languages 
derived from the same source, and would lend a deeper 
shade to the peculiar characteristics of any people. To 
an uncivilised or unintellectual people it would evolve 
a religion of fear, superstition, and cruelty; in a country 
of higher mental capabilities it would lay the foundation 
of poetry and romance. 

The genius of the Carthaginian people, it has been 
said, was entirely commercial, and even its warlike 
character was but an emanation of the same spirit. The 
necessity of defending their commerce from neighbouring 
nations, and of extending it and their empire, led them 
into incessant wars; but the basis of their common 
wealth and the grand spring of all their enterprises was 
their predominant passion for gain. All their talents 
were directed to this end ; their chief glory consisted in 
amassing riches, of the use of which, after all, they knew 
but little. A course of national training such as this, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 85 

could not but meet with its due reward in raising their 
nation to a high pitch of splendour and glory. But was 
the happiness of the people increased in a corresponding 
degree ? or could the pure selfishness of such a grasping 
principle effect anything hut a demoralisation of their 
habits ? It was an excessive training of the acquisitive 
faculty, rendering all the other powers of the mind sub- 
servient to its gratification. The guiding motive, indeed, 
was not only self-gratification but a gratification of the 
most selfish principle in human nature. It was the 
miser's feverish anxiety to accumulate wealth, without 
regard to the advantages it confers in promoting the 
elegances of life, the cultivation of the mind, or the 
highest of all luxuries, the power of doing good to 
others. Hence their education was confined to writing, 
arithmetic, book-keeping, and whatever related to traffic; 
but polite learning, history, eloquence, poetry, and 
philosophy, seem to have been little known among them ; 
so that, in the course of seven hundred years, Carthage 
cannot boast of more than three or four writers of any 
reputation. 

Nor did their intercourse with Greece and other 
civilised nations inspire more ennobling sentiments, so 
utterly prostrated were all the higher aspirations of 
the national mind before the sordid and engrossing 
love of gain. And it is a melancholy but true picture 
of the tendency of the same disposition in every indi- 
vidual that Cicero draws, in describing that of the Car- 
thaginians, when he says, " their distinguishing charac- 
teristics are craft, skill, address, industry, cunning, 
(calliditas,) which, doubtless, appeared in war, but was 
still more conspicuous in the rest of their conduct, and 
this was joined to another quality that bears a very near 
relation to it, and is still less reputable. Craft and cunning 



36 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

lead naturally to lying, hypocrisy, and breach of faith : 
and thereby accustoming the mind insensibly to be less 
scrupulous with regard to the choice of means for com- 
passing its design, prepare it for the basest frauds and 
the most perfidious actions. This was also one of the 
characteristics of the Carthaginians, and it was so no- 
torious that to signify any remarkable dishonesty it was 
usual to call it Funic honour, fides Punica ; and to 
describe a knavish, deceitful mind, no expression was 
thought more proper and emphatical than this — a Car- 
thaginian mind, Punicum ingenium."* 

This immoderate thirst after gain generally gave 
occasion in Carthage to the committing of base and 
unjust actions. One single example, mentioned by Livy. 
may prove this. In the time of a truce granted by 
Scipio, at the earnest entreaties of the Carthaginians, 
some Roman vessels, being driven by a storm on the 
coasts of Carthage, were seized by order of the senate 
and jyeople, who could not suffer so tempting a prey to 
escape them. They were resolved to get money, however 
scandalous and dishonourable the means of acquiring it. 
Even in St. Austin's time, as that father informs us, they 
showed, on a particular occasion, that they still retained 
something of their ancient characteristics. 

Such, therefore, was the basis of the Carthaginian 
character, morally deformed by a course of practical 
training, but over which was raised a superstructure of 
religious fanaticism, leading, on the other hand, to prac- 
tices infinitely more revolting. 

I have said their language came from Phenicia, and 
in it* as a vehicle, was also imported their ideas of me- 

* Carthaginienses fraudulent! et mendaces, — multis et variis 
mereatorum advenarumque sermonibus ad studium fallendi 
quaestus cupiditate vocabantur.— Cic. Orat. 2 in Hull n. 94. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 37 

taphysics. This was, therefore, the atmosphere through 
which shone upon them the same " dim religious light" 
that first dawned in Egypt ; hut so gross was now the 
medium, that the spirituality of that religion was entirely 
obscured; and as the natural rays of the sun, on entering 
a gloomy horizon, often reflect objects in a distorted 
form, so, through the density of this moral gloom, did the 
objects of Egyptian faith assume to the Carthaginian 
people the most hideous aspect. Ignorance is the parent 
of fear ; and as their cupidity gave them no leisure nor 
inclination to cultivate literature, which might have 
enabled them to analyse the meaning of their religious 
allegories, their ignorant fears deduced from them a 
system of superstition in which all the ties of humanity 
were torn asunder, and the tenderest feelings of nature 
trampled upon. And if fear was thus the origin of their 
gods, no less did it invest them with a character of the 
most vindictive nature. To appease the wrath of Saturn, 
the deity of second rank in their calendar, known in Scrip- 
ture by the name of Moloch, human sacrifices were offered 
up in multitudes. This custom passed from Tyre to Car- 
thage, — and hence we may conclude its Egyptian and 
hieroglyphic origin. Philo mentions, that the kings of 
Tyre, in great dangers, used to sacrifice their sons to 
appease the anger of the gods. Particular persons, 
desirous of averting any great calamity, took the same 
method, and were so very superstitious, that such as had 
no children purchased those of the poor, that they might 
not be deprived of the merit of such a sacrifice. At first, 
children were inhumanly burnt, either in a fiery furnace, 
like those in the valley of Hinnom, so often mentioned 
in Scripture, or in a flaming statue of Saturn. The cries 
of these unhappy victims were drowned by the uninter- 
rupted noise of drums and trumpets. Mothers made it 



38 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

a merit and a part of their religion to view this barbarous 
spectacle with dry eyes, and without so much as a groan ; 
and if a tear or a sigh stole from them the sacrifice was 
less acceptable to the deity, and all the effect of it was 
entirely lost. Thus, strength of mind, or rather savage 
barbarity, was carried to such excess, that even mothers 
would endeavour with embraces and kisses to hush the 
cries of their children, lest, had the victim been offered 
with an unbecoming grace, and in the midst of tears, it 
should offend the god. 

The Carthaginians retained these barbarous practices 
until the ruin of their city; and even their great generals 
yielded to the horrid custom. In an action between 
Gelon the Syracusan monarch, and Hamilcar, the son of 
Hanno the Carthaginian leader, which lasted from morn- 
ing to night, we are told the latter was perpetually offer- 
ing up to the gods sacrifices of living men, who were 
thrown on a flaming pile ; and seeing his troops routed 
and put to flight, he himself rushed into the pile, that he 
might not survive his own disgrace, and to extinguish 
with his own blood this sacrilegious fire when he found it 
had proved of no service to him. 

In times of pestilence they used to sacrifice numbers 
of children to their gods, unmoved by pity for their 
tender age. Diodorus relates an instance of this cruelty 
which must strike the reader with horror. At the time 
that Agathocles was going to besiege Carthage, its inha- 
bitants, seeing the extremity to which they were reduced, 
imputed all their misfortunes to the great anger of Saturn, 
because that, instead of offering up children nobly born, 
who were usually sacrificed to him, he had fraudulently 
been put off with the children of slaves and foreigners. 
To atone for this crime, two hundred children of the best 
families in Carthage were sacrificed to Saturn, besides 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 39 

which, upwards of three hundred citizens, from a sense 
of their guilt of this pretended crime, voluntarily sacri- 
ficed themselves. 

Seeing, therefore, to what excesses an ignorant fear 
will lead mankind when the venerative faculties are under 
its training, it is almost superfluous to notice an equally 
certain result of its influence in deforming the social 
character. Hence we are again told, " They had some- 
thing austere and savage in their dispositions and genius, 
a haughty and imperious air, a sort of ferocity which in 
its first starts was deaf to either reason or remonstrance, 
and plunged brutally into the utmost excesses of violence. 
The people, cowardly and grovelling under apprehensions, 
were fiery and cruel in their transports; at the same time 
that they trembled under their magistrates, they were 
dreaded in their turn by their miserable vassals." In 
war, Livy mentions that " ill success was punished as a 
crime against the state ; and whenever a battle was lost, 
the general, at his return, was almost sure of ending his 
life on a gibbet or scaffold. Such was the furious, cruel, 
and barbarous disposition of the Carthaginians, who were 
always ready to shed the blood of their citizens as well 
as of foreigners. The unheard-of tortures which they 
made Eegulus suffer are a manifest proof of this assertion, 
and their whole history will furnish such instances of it 
as are not to be read without horror." To read such a 
page of history as this is indeed a sickening task, but to 
the moralist not without profit, as indicating the fearful 
extent of misery that may be brought upon one man by 
another, and on one nation by another, when the depths 
of the human heart are moved by selfish motives, when 
the moral and spiritual feelings are either under-trained 
or over- trained, and the mental faculties unenlightened. 



CHAPTER III. 

In Greece, there is a striking example how much the 
foundation of individual, as well as national, character, 
is formed by the plastic influence of external circum- 
stances. The mild climate and romantic scenery of that 
classic land, must have impressed their peculiar character- 
istics upon its earliest inhabitants. The former would 
shed a soothing influence over the frame, educing a cor- 
responding moral temperament, and the latter stamp 
upon the soul an innate impression of the beautiful and 
sublime. To these native tendencies of the Greeks, there 
seemed only wanting an extrinsic guidance in harmony 
with them, to form the living models of mankind ; but 
while much of their education was a deduction from 
nature itself, forming the best foundation for a course of 
artificial mental and moral training, the latter was 
derived from a foreign source — it was an exotic planted 
in their native soil, producing altogether an original 
fruit. Their writing, commerce, and navigation, came 
from Phenicia ; the elements of their arts, sciences, reli- 
gion, and laws from Egypt. In ancient times the country 
was divided into very small republics, neighbours in 
point of locality, but differing in their customs, laws, 
and characters, and of hostile interests. These differ- 
ences, and their natural desire of aggrandisement at the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 41 

expense of their neighbours, produced incessant skir- 
mishes and petty wars. Either from ambition or self- 
defence, they were, therefore, always under arms, and by 
the constant exercise of war, a martial spirit and indomi- 
table courage were thus formed in the entire people. In 
such contests it was, of course, mere animal strength that 
gained their victories, and the might of the conqueror 
gave the right of ascendency. 

There is, however, something morally grand and en- 
nobling in wielding even a physical power for the good 
of a community ; and debasing in its tendency though 
the practice of war may be, and wrong as a means, it is 
not always resorted to for a bad end, and it certainly 
does not induce an individual selfishness. It is often an 
entire abandonment of self to the interests of a commu- 
nity. Still even this motive is inherently the same, only 
diluted into patriotism, or a family and social selfishness, 
which seeks to advance the interests of one community at 
the expense and degradation of others. Knowing, there- 
fore, no higher power of arbitration in their quarrels, 
than the physical power and combination of numbers, 
and the strength and agility of individuals, the early 
Greeks assiduously cultivated bodily exercises as the only 
means of gaining a superiority, and a spirit of patriot- 
ism or love of country as the master passion of their 
lives. By the constant friction of these animal contests, 
however, sparks of intellect were occasionally struck 
out, which ultimately lighted up more artificial modes 
of warfare, and developed more rational pursuits for 
ordinary life. 

Looking at the history of Greece metaphysically, it 
may therefore be said that the long struggle between 
Sparta and Athens was simply a war between animalism 
and intellectuality, in which the latter ultimately gained 



42 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the supremacy, and for the first time on earth established 
a dominion over the destinies of man. In Sparta, all 
that the animal nature of man could do was effected, and 
that by a course of training of the most arduous kind. 
" All the laws of Sparta and institutions of Lycurgus," 
says Kollin. " seem to have had no other object than 
war, and tended solely to making the subjects of that 
republic a body of soldiers. All other employments, all 
other exercises were prohibited amongst them. Arts, 
polite learning, sciences, even husbandry itself, had no 
share in their application, and seemed in their eyes 
unworthy of them. From their earliest infancy, no other 
taste was instilled into them but arms, and indeed the 
Spartan education was wonderfully well adapted to that 
end. To go barefoot, to lie hard, to shift with little 
meat or drink, to suffer heat and cold, to exercise con- 
tinually hunting, wrestling, running on foot and horse- 
back, to be inured to blows and wounds, so as to vent 
neither complaint nor groan, — these were the rudiments 
of the Spartan youth with regard to war, and enabled 
them one day to support all its fatigues, and to confront 
fill its dangers." The " habit of obeying, contracted 
from the most early years respect for the magistrates and 
elders, a perfect submission to the laws from which no 
age nor condition was exempt, prepared them amazingly 
for military discipline, which is, in a manner, the soul of 
war, and the principle of success in all great enterprises." 
Such a course of training, with a uniform application of 
it to one end, namely, the aggrandisement of herself, 
could not fail to raise Sparta to a high eminence among 
the states of Greece, to make her the formidable rival of 
Athens, and at last, as her ally, the conqueror of the 
world. 

Ambition and military fame were thus the ultimate 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 43 

objects of attainment and pre-eminent virtues of the 
Lacedemonians — to these all the faculties of their minds 
and powers of their bodies were subservient. 

It must be admitted, however, that much of this phy- 
sical training would have been an undeniable good, had 
it been directed to a beneficial end ; the evil was in its 
misdirection, and being under the guidance of a wrong 
motive. Self- denial is not in itself a virtue, it is the 
end which renders such a means virtuous ; and this iron 
system of sacrificing all the finer emotions of the heart, 
and the energies of the mind and body, at the shrine of 
an ideal and imaginary good, was only a continued and 
positive evil, as it entailed upon its victims a life-time of 
practical suffering, unalleviated by -any substantial benefit. 
It was an illustration of the Stoic's doctrine, that virtue 
consists in the exercise of self-denial and suffering as an 
end, not as a means, for it was not the consequences and 
advantages of victory that the Spartans panted after 
so much as the mere abstract ideas of glory and patriot- 
ism. They endured real grievances to reap imaginary 
benefits. 

And if such an education was calculated to harden the 
body and render it callous to privation and suffering, it 
no less indurated the affections of the heart, destroying 
the very soil on which the richest fruits of virtue and 
happiness grow. Mothers recommended to their sons, 
when they set out for the field, to return either with or 
upon their bucklers. They did not weep for those who 
died with arms in their hands, but for those who pre- 
served themselves by flight. Many people still admire the 
courage of these Spartan mothers, who could thus hear 
the news of their children slain in battle, not only with- 
out tears, but with joy and satisfaction : but nature never 
contradicts herself, and no imaginary love of country 



44 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

can ever thus swallow up maternal affection. Such 
exhibitions were, therefore, most unnatural and dis- 
gusting. 

Yet this kind of Stoicism is, perhaps, the less to be 
wondered at, when it is considered that the children were 
taken away from their parents at an early age by the 
state, and placed under a course of training at the public 
expense, by which the natural bond of parental affection 
would be very much loosened. The entire spirit and 
design of the laws of Lycurgus were to form a martial 
and robust people ; that each member of the community 
might bring into the field the greatest possible amount 
of strength and activity, and be a mere passive machine 
in the hands of his leader. As soon as a boy was born 
the elders of each tribe visited him, and if they found 
him well made and vigorous, he was subjected to the 
severe discipline mentioned ; but if weakly and delicate, 
he was exposed to perish. And it is not to be doubted, 
that the ordinary discipline exercised on many tender 
children would accelerate their death, for patience and 
constancy under sufferings were also strictly enjoined. 
It is said that, in a certain festival celebrated in honour 
of Diana, surnamed Orthea, the children, before the eyes 
of their parents, and in presence of the whole city, suffered 
themselves to be whipped till the blood ran down upon the 
altar of this cruel goddess, where sometimes they expired 
under the strokes without the least cry, or suffering even 
a groan or a sigh to escape them ; and even their own 
fathers, when they saw them covered with blood and 
wounds, and ready to expire, exhorted them to persevere 
to the end with constancy and resolution. Plutarch men- 
tions that he had seen with his own eyes a great many 
children lose their lives on these cruel occasions. Well, 
therefore, might Horace style such a country Patiens 
Laceda'mon . 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 45 

Enormities of a different, but even more revolting 
character, were also practised in the education of girls, 
and in their regulations regarding the marriages of young 
women, giving rise to the most frightful disorders : and 
to this may only he added the barbarous treatment of 
their Helot slaves, who were often tortured and destroyed 
at the merest caprice of their masters, to fill up the mea- 
sure of that iron despotism of which they were the volun- 
tary subjects, and which finds so many admirers even at 
the present day. No national glory, however brilliant, 
can ever compensate for a distortion of the natural affec- 
tions, the want of softened manners, and a polished 
understanding. Hence it was that, although the parental 
and social feelings might be thus frozen over by the 
chilling influence of such an education, there flowed be- 
neath the hard surface a dangerous flood of passions that 
often broke out in a "roughness, austerity, and ferocity 
of temper," that rendered them a disagreeable people 
even to their own allies. " They were observed," says 
Aristotle, " to have something almost brutal in their 
character. A government too rigid, and a life too labo- 
rious, rendered their tempers haughty, austere, and im- 
perious." Every one knows also the sad stain that rests 
upon the national character of Sparta, arising from such 
an obliquity of morals as could induce her senators to 
legalise undetected stealing, for the sake of rendering 
the people dexterous in battle, and skilled in strategy. 

But a brighter picture is presented in the history of 
Athens, the impersonation of a higher course of training ; 
the rival and ultimate superior of Sparta. Here it is, 
for the first time in the annals of the human race, that 
pure intellect reigns supreme, subjugating many of the 
animal propensities, and creating an ideal of goodness 
and beauty worthy of admiration in all ages. In the 
dedication of their city to Minerva, the personification of 



46 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

wisdom, the arts, and sciences, there is a beautiful alle- 
gory of the supreme place these held in the estimation of 
the Athenians. All their splendid mythology had the 
same tendency, and invited their worship only to what 
was tasteful, intellectual, and sublime. When Homer 
celebrates the advantages and victories of Greece over 
Asia, the esoteric sense of his impersonations is simply 
an ascription of praise to the former for its superior 
wisdom and virtue, and of reproach to the latter, for its 
effeminacy and vice. On the side of Asia was Venus, 
representing the voluptuousness and idle loves of that 
country ; on that of Greece were Juno, signifying gravity 
with conjugal affection, Mercury with eloquence, and 
Jupiter with wise policy. With the Asiatics was Mars, 
an impetuous and brutal deity, representing war carried 
on with fury ; with the Greeks, Pallas, or the science of 
war, and valour conducted by reason. In a word, it is a 
description of the true genius of the Athenian spirit sub- 
jecting pleasure to virtue, the body to the mind, and 
physical strength to reason and skill. 

Nor was it merely the bare practice of these virtues, 
arts, and sciences which they exhibited, but the very poetry 
and perfection of them. Born beneath the clear azure of 
a Grecian sky, and first opening their eyes upon the 
loveliest scenes of nature, in the gently undulating pas- 
ture lands, wild rocky shores, and " far resounding 
ocean," the " soil-sprung " sons of Attica received at 
their very birth impressions of the grand, and sublime. 
The natural disposition of every rude people for war, 
inherent also in them, induced a course of physical 
training, in many respects similar to that of the Lace- 
demonians ; but even in this their natural genius for 
taste prevailed, and threw a charm over all their 
exercises. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 47 

The principal end which the Spartans had in view in 
their severe discipline, was to inure their youth to the 
' hardships of war, and to render them callous to mental 
and physical privation and suffering. But the Athenians, 
in addition to this, had a higher course, that may almost 
he termed the poetry of physical training. Their Gym- 
nasium was divided into two departments, the palsestric and 
orchestric. The palsestric exercises were intended chiefly 
to accustom the hody to the fatigues of war, navigation, 
agriculture, and other manual and hodily employments ; 
in the orchestric were taught such rules of motion ' c as were 
proper to render the shape free and easy, to give the 
body a just proportion, and the whole person an uncon- 
strained, noble, and graceful air." And when we consider 
the national importance that attached to their games, and 
the rewards and prizes conferred upon those who excelled 
in robust exercises, feats of skill, and gracefulness in 
the dance, it may easily be conceived that every facility 
was afforded for training a race of men whose physical 
proportions are still referred to as models of perfection. 
From copying such living models too, was it, that the 
imitative arts arrived at such perfection, and the statuary 
and the painter drew their noblest inspirations. 

To this polishing of the external man, the early 
Greeks added the cultivation of music, a means no less 
efficacious in refining the moral nature, than a course of 
bodily training tends to render the limbs pliant and 
graceful. That music is the foundation of a correct taste 
in many mental occupations there can be little doubt, and 
still less that it is a powerful auxiliary in moral training. 
The softened harmony of song falling upon the ear of 
one excited by strong emotions, is like pouring oil on 
the troubled waters of the soul. The mother soothes her 
babe to sleep, and calms its fretfulness and irritation, by 



48 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

her lulling melodies. Even the savage feels its influence 
and lays aside his wrathful purposes when the demon has 
been cast out by its potent agency. But while one kind 
of music has a relaxing tendency upon the nervous 
system, inducing a softness of disposition, it is counter^ 
acted by the sterner airs of a different kind. In short, 
there is an eloquence in music adapted to every mental 
and moral condition, and equally calculated to awaken 
the better feelings, as to subdue the worse. 

Aware of this moral influence in music, it is said to 
have been a custom of the Pythagoreans, immediately 
on rising from bed, to sound the lyre to some lively air, 
in order to rouse the mind and fit it for action ; and 
before going to rest, to touch it to a softer strain to pre- 
pare themselves for sleep, by calming the tumultuous 
thoughts of the day. Polybius also mentions, that it 
was esteemed necessary " to calm the passions, soften 
the manners, and even to humanise people naturally 
savage ;" and he thus draws a contrast between two people 
of Arcadia, the one beloved and esteemed for the ele- 
gance of their manners, their benevolent inclinations, 
humanity to strangers, and piety to the gods ; and the 
other, on the contrary, generally reproached and hated 
for their malignity, brutality, and irreligion ; the cause 
of which, in the former, he ascribes to their assiduous 
cultivation and practice of music, and in the latter, to 
the neglect of it. 

Music was thus considered an essential element in the 
education of all Greeks, and an ignorance of it reckoned 
a defect. The greatest of their philosophers and warriors, 
including Socrates and Alexander, practised and often 
excelled in it, and to illustrate its power in subduing the 
most savage and cruel dispositions, has given rise to one 
of the finest allegories in their mythology. When 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 49 

Orpheus, by the sound of his lyre, is said to have drawn 
after him lions and tigers, changed the course of rivers, 
and melted the rocks, it is simply a personification of its 
soul-stirring influence upon the passions and purposes of 
man. It is, however, strictly a physical exercise, a means 
for allaying the excitability of the nervous system, whence 
so many of the moral impulses proceed. It may there- 
fore be called with propriety, the physical training of the 
moral faculties. 

Many other circumstances, arising out of the natural 
and social position of the Greeks, conspired to form the 
basis of their manly character, to inspire them with 
exalted and generous sentiments, and, as their freedom 
and civilisation advanced, to develop their natural genius 
for taste and refinement. From whatever source derived, 
and however rude the elements of any branch of know- 
ledge introduced among them, their talent for bringing 
these to perfection is ever conspicuous. Colonies from 
Egypt and Phoenicia taught them literature, the arts, 
and sciences. But while it was merely the sixteen rude 
characters of the alphabet which Cadmus imported, a few 
centuries only had elapsed, when the bard of Smyrna 
produced by their means, the first and best poem the 
world ever saw. While the mythology of Egypt, spread- 
ing into other lands, only inspired terror and alarm into 
their inhabitants, the intellectual Greeks drew thence 
some of their sublimest fancies, and the poet, the 
painter, and the sculptor, again embodied its original 
figures, thus creating almost a new worship in the admi- 
ration, by all ages, of their own matchless genius. And 
if the famous pyramids, the lake Mceris, the labyrinth, 
the obelisks and temples of Egypt, show with what 
ardour and success the Egyptians applied themselves to 
architecture, it is in Greece alone where the art rises into 

D 



50 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the very poetry of excellence. In Asia and Egypt, the 
massiveness and enormous size of many of the buildings, 
create awe, but not delight. We wonder at the vast 
amount of labour bestowed upon them, but in the temples 
of Diana at Ephesus, Apollo at Miletus, Ceres and 
Proserpine at Eleusis, Jupiter Olympius at Athens, the 
mausoleum, the city and lighthouse of Alexandria, the 
beautiful structures erected at Athens by Pericles, the 
Acropolis and Parthenon, with a host of other buildings, 
the imagination is captivated by the elegance of their 
design, their consummate finish, and adornment. 

Nor were they an imaginative people only, but a dej)th 
of thought and originality of invention are equally their 
characteristics. Of this there is no better evidence than 
the writings they have left us on the physical and moral 
sciences- Of all the ancients, they arrived at the 
soundest conclusions in astronomy. This science most 
probably had its origin in Ohaldea, where, in the serene 
nights, and from the top of the lofty Babel, the people 
were so fond of contemplating the motions of the 
heavenly bodies. From Chaldea it passed into Egypt, and 
thence into Phoenicia, where its speculations were applied 
to the uses of navigation. It was, then, but these rude 
elements of star-gazing, which Thales, one of the seven 
wise men of Greece, brought into his own country, where 
they were improved upon by a series of philosophers, 
until at length the penetrating genius of Pythagoras 
deduced from them that " system" which still bears his 
name, and the truth of which is as eternal as the heavens 
themselves. Kejecting the received opinions of the world, 
and reversing the favourite theory, which ascribed rest 
to the earth, and motion to the sun, he made that sublime 
discovery on which the whole basis of modern astronomy 
is built. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 51 

111 metaphysical and moral philosophy, too, they ex- 
celled all the other pagan nations of antiquity. In respect 
to these sciences, indeed, the land of Greece seemed a 
focus wherein were concentrated all the rays of know- 
ledge dispersed throughout the world. From Egypt the 
priests, from Persia the magi, from Babylon the Chal- 
deans, from India the Brachmans or Gymnosophists, 
from Gaul the Druids, sent out each so many scattered 
beams of intelligence, but it was only in Greece where 
the concentration of that knowledge reflected so brilliant a 
lustre. The natural talent of her philosophers for abstract 
and deductive reasoning, evolved from such materials all 
that the unaided intellect of man seemed able to do. 
And more indeed than a mere human light seems to have 
dictated many of their opinions ; for we learn that 
Pythagoras and others went to Chaldea and Babylon in 
quest of knowledge ; and, considering the extreme pro- 
bability of their having seen there Ezekiel and Daniel, 
it may account for the near resemblance, in much of their 
philosophy, to the Jewish religion. In the doctrines of 
the soul's immortality and immateriality; the existence 
of one Supreme Being, the Author of all nature; that 
men have only to take pains to purify themselves of 
their passions and vices in order to be united to God ; 
that after this life there is a state of rewards and punish- 
ments for the good and the bad, with a belief in the 
existence of spirits or angels, there is a system of theo- 
retical divinity to a great extent the same as that of 
modern Christianity. 

Besides these merely speculative opinions, it was in 
Greece, too, where the scattered precepts of morality 
were first reduced into the form of a science, the 
abstractions of mental philosophy humanized, and 
brought to bear upon the duties of life ; and apart from 

D 2 



52 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

revelation, the first glimpses obtained of that knowledge 
which teaches the necessity of elevating the moral senti- 
ments, and acting under their guidance, to ensure the 
enjoyment of happiness. Identified with the science of 
moral philosophy, and as the founder of it, there is also 
the brightest name and the best man the pagan world 
ever saw. It was Socrates, according to Cicero, " who 
first brought philosophy down from heaven, where she 
had been employed till then in contemplating the course 
of the stars, established her in cities, introduced her into 
private houses, and obliged her to direct her enquiries to 
what concerned the manners, duties, virtues, and morals 
of life, to render men more rational, just, and virtuous." 

The remark which a woman made to Thales when she 
saw him fall into a ditch while he was contemplating the 
stars, was therefore reversed in the case of Socrates, — 
" How should you know," said she, "what passes in the 
heavens, when you do not see what passes under your 
feet?" for it was the light of heaven itself that" the latter 
rendered available in guiding his feet. His opinions 
concerning the unity of Deity, the immortality of the 
soul, and a state of future rewards and punishments, are 
almost in every respect. the same as those entertained by 
Christians. His preceptive morality is sublime, and his 
own life the brightest example of a man living under its 
influence. He not only proved the reasonableness of his 
own doctrines, but gave ample evidence of their efficacy 
in overcoming wrong habits, and establishing correct 
ones — perhaps the first instance on record of moral 
training conducted upon intellectual principles. 

Looking back, then, over the history of Greece, from the 
time of Alexander to Pericles, embracing a period of about 
two hundred years, it seems as if little had been Wanted 
in the materials and elements of her education, to have 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 58 

rendered her at that time, a model school for the entire 
world ; and in many things she ever will remain a model 
to posterity. But while such was the case, she proved 
her incapacity to secure the advantages of her exalted 
position She wanted the animating motives of pure 
morality. It was the "form without the power" of 
virtue which she possessed. She was " a whited sepul- 
chre, heautiful without, hut within full of corruption." 
Her metaphysics and her moral philosophy were merely 
mental speculations, formiDg a .gymnasium for training 
the mind, as the palsestric exercises developed the powers 
of the hody. And even in the case of Socrates, and 
other moral philosophers, who themselves acted upon a 
system of self- training, it was only a knowledge of pre- 
ceptive morality they taught to others. There was no 
school for the formation of virtuous and benevolent 
habits, and for elevating the Grecian character into the 
higher regions of philanthropy, beyond the mere delu- 
sions of military fame and patriotism. Athens formed 
the idol of all Grecian hearts, and her glory became the 
ruling passion of their lives. To advance these, all their 
education tended, all their physical, mental, and moral 
faculties were made subservient ; and if, during the victo- 
rious reign of Alexander, such a course of training raised 
them to the very summit of fame, shedding a last bright 
blaze of glory around their country, it was only the light- 
ning's flash, that extinguished their very existence, and 
rendered the long succeeding darkness the more awfully 
profound. On the death of that conqueror, who had 
advanced civilization wherever his army had penetrated, a 
reaction took place among other countries, and the recoil- 
ing waves of barbarism again swept over their classic land, 
the melancholy history of which thenceforth tells of nothing 
but crimes and revolutions, anarchv and slaverv. 



54 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

The infant commonwealth of Rome was horn and 
nurtured in blood. Its founder was a fratricide, and his 
adherents a hand of robhers. Such habits naturally 
induced a wildness and ferocity of temper among them- 
selves, and developed a predominancy of animalism in 
their descendants, rendering them utterly averse to the 
humanizing influences of art, and mental cultivation. 
In time this savage disposition, modified by laws adapted 
to the spirit of such a community, assumed a rigid 
severity and sternness of purpose, leading them to rely 
for success in their enterprises upon their native courage, 
discipline, and perseverance; and as through all the best 
part of their history, from Romulus to Augustus, they 
still retained the same grasping and ambitious character, 
it was only the increasing extent of their dominions and 
power that elevated those animal qualities into virtues. 
The very names were synonymous, and bravery in the 
field was the highest, moral qualification of a Roman. 
The cultivation of literature, the arts and sciences, was 
looked upon as effeminating and useless, especially as 
they found their own discipline and courage sufficient to 
give them a mastery over other nations more learned 
and refined than themselves. Being morally un- 
disciplined, they knew no higher aim in life, than a 
gratification of their national vanity, or their own indi- 
vidual selfishness ; and being mentally unenlightened, 
they could find no better means of promoting these ends, 
than by training to their highest perfection those physical 
endowments which had hitherto gained them so many 
advantages. And though we are accustomed to look 
upon the ancient Romans with feelings of respect, to 
admire their prowess in arms, the masculine energy of 
their minds, and the deep- toned patriotism of their 
actions, yet these qualities were no more inherent in the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 55 

uneducated Roman, than the uncultivated Dacian, or 
the barbarous Scythian, and were only developed by the 
^education of circumstances, and formed into habits by 
long and incessant practice. 

A course of special training of the most arduous and 
almost incredible nature, was necessary to constitute the 
Roman soldier. War was the only science he knew. 
To the improvement of this he bent all his thoughts, 
and to the practice of it all the energies of his body. 
To be enabled to carry heavier arms than other nations, 
the soldiers of Rome underwent a course of perpetual 
labour that increased their vigour, and of exercises that 
gave them an ease and facility In using them. They 
were inured to the military pace, that is, to walk twenty 
miles, and sometimes twenty-four miles, in five hours. 
During these marches they carried burdens of sixty 
pounds weight, and habituated themselves to running 
and leaping in full armour. In their exercises they made 
use of swords, javelins, and arrows, double the weight of 
common weapons, and these exercises were carried on 
without intermission. In their marches, in addition to 
their weapons and armour, they also carried provisions 
for fifteen days, and whatever they should have occasion 
for in throwing up trenches, fortifying their camps, and 
cutting their way through forests. 

A system -of individual self-reliance was also inspired 
into the army by such a course of training, as each one 
more robust, and of greater experience than his enemy, 
was sure to gain the advantage of him, or if not, to be 
vanquished by him. Death was the punishment of any 
one who deserted his post, or turned his back upon the 
enemy; and so rigid was the principle of obedience to 
authority, that a general is found putting to death his 
own son, for conquering without his orders. Such were 



50 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

some of the principles brought into operation in the 
physical training of Eome ; much of it is after the 
model of a Spartan education, but having a larger 
infusion of scientific skill, the inertia of her physical 
resources was more easily overcome, and the scene of 
her conquests vastly more extensive. 

Home, indeed, may be said to have arrived at a mature 
age before she commenced any course of discipline 
beyond what was necessary in the practice of war ; and 
though among the conquered Greeks she had the most 
illustrious of examples and the best of teachers, except in 
the mere arts of rhetoric and poetry she never exhibited 
any aptitude for their instructions. She resembled an indi- 
vidual in humble life, who, by a long course of industry, 
has amassed wealth, and with all his former desires and 
habits strong upon him, sets about acquiring an elegant 
education and gentlemanly manners ; but finding these 
sit ungracefully upon him he abandons the attempt, and 
affects to despise them. As long friction, however, will 
polish, in some degree, the roughest material, her inter- 
course with Greece had- in time some influence in soften- 
ing and refining her character, and of throwing at least a 
surface of intellectuality and taste over the essential 
animalism of her nature. 

This began upon her undertaking the defence of Greece 
against Philip of Macedon, in the year of Rome 555, 
from which pretext she ultimately gained possession of 
the whole country. But the study of literature and elo- 
quence was never much cultivated before the arrival of 
the Achaians in the year of Eome 586. These, among 
whom was the celebrated Polybius, were sent for out of 
their own country, where they had been disaffected to the 
Romans, and dispersed throughout several parts of Italy. 
Being members of the principal cities of Greece, they 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 57 

brought with them a knowledge of many of the liberal 
arts and sciences of their own country. In a short time 
their example and instructions had wrought such a change 
upon the Roman youth, that the senate became alarmed 
lest their ancient discipline should by such means be 
corrupted, and the minds of the people enervated by 
study. A consultation was therefore held how to put a 
stop to the diffusion of such knowledge, as threatened 
to induce habits so contrary to the warlike disposition of 
their ancestors ; and a decree was passed that no such 
men as philosophers and rhetoricians should be tolerated 
at Rome. The tree of knowledge had been planted,. 
however, and though in a rocky soil and ungenial clime, 
it struggled its way into existence ; but the fruit it bore 
ever gave evidence of the chilling influence of the one 
and the iron hardness of the other. 

Had it not been, indeed, for other collateral circum- 
stances, it might soon have withered away or been eradi- 
cated. During the time of Cato the censor, when 
Grecian literature was beginning to be cultivated by the 
Roman youth, it happened that the Athenians plundered 
a city of Bceotia, the inhabitants of which referred the 
case to the judgment of the Sicyonians, who fined the 
Athenians in five hundred talents. To procure a mitiga- 
tion of this fine, certain eloquent Athenians were sent to 
expostulate with the senate of Rome, whose harangues in 
favour of abstract justice and right so captivated the 
Roman youth, that henceforth the study of rhetoric and 
philosophy began to be assiduously cultivated. But the 
aged Cato took it so much to heart, lest, as he said, the 
youth should prefer the glory of speaking to acting, that 
he dismissed the ambassadors as being "persons who 
could persuade the people to whatever they pleased." 
The impressions made upon the minds of the youth, 

P 3 



58 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

however, in favour of a more refined education than 
Home then afforded, were not so easily eradicated ; and 
we are told they grew every day more enamoured of study, 
and showed as much diligence in their pursuit of know- 
ledge as they had ever done in their application to war. 

To the opposition given to these studies by the senate 
of Rome, may, therefore, be traced the origin of another 
contest between the pow r er of reason and the might of 
the sword, between intellect and animalism; but the 
result was different from that in Greece, in which the 
former prevailed, and became a guiding principle of 
action, having its attributes deified and worshipped. In 
Rome physical strength and bravery were ever supreme ; 
and however much intellectual pursuits might be culti- 
vated, they were always subordinated to ambitious pro- 
jects. The study of rhetoric and forensic eloquence 
opened up a new profession, and the forum became an 
arena for the exercise of mind, as the Campus Martius 
was for that of the body. Still the forum was but an 
auxiliary to the camp. It was the physical might of the 
army which gave law to Rome. The most influential 
senators were generally at the same time the most suc- 
cessful commanders, whose position and renown in the 
army gave weight to their opinions in the senate. The 
two professions were indeed partly blended, but that of 
arms was much the more honourable. The glories of 
victory and conquest dazzled the moral sense, as the 
glittering panoply of the warrior and the long triumphal 
procession captivated the natural gaze. These were the 
themes on which the orator and poet expatiated, and in 
moving the people to any purpose their eloquence drew 
thence its most powerful persuasives. The ablest talents 
and consummate wisdom of Rome's wisest senators were 
thus so many moral levers applied in directing and pro- 
moting the giant strength of their vast empire. Their 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 59 

city was dedicated to Mars, the personification of animal 
courage in war ; and before the shrine of that brutal deity 
all the morality and intellect of Eome fell prostrate, doing 
homage. 

And when the motive is analysed, for what purpose 
were all these mighty exertions made but to gratify the 
lowest feelings of human nature, to gain a dominancy 
over other nations and keep them in thraldom, to advance 
the mere dignity and importance of Eome ? In effecting 
this object, too, what scenes of protracted cruelty and 
oppression were indulged in ! At the end of the first 
Punic war the gates of the temple of Janus were shut, 
having remained open for the preceding five hundred 
years, during all which period wars, rapine, and plunder 
were being carried on in every part of the known world. 
The selfishness and cupidity of Eome thus increased as 
her inordinate desires were gratified, and her intellect be- 
came more and more distorted by an incessant perversion 
of reasoning to justify her motives. The empire rose to 
a gigantic height, but required in consequence a system 
of physical domination of equal power, to uphold which 
among foreign nations the most sanguinary wars were ne- 
cessarily waged, and at home a spirit of blind subserviency 
to rulers exacted. To perpetuate this power and prolong 
this thraldom it was obviously the interest of those in 
authority to dazzle the minds of the people by represent- 
ing the glories of conquest, of patriotism, and of Eome, 
as of paramount consideration. Popular knowledge and 
freedom generally go hand in hand ; and as it was by no 
means their policy to bestow too large a measure of the 
latter upon the people, it was found the more convenient 
way to withhold it by abridging the former. 

But the human mind has within itself a principle of 
elasticity which in proportion to the pressure laid upon it, 
increasingly tends to produce a reaction, and which in 



60 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the rebound not unfrequently overthrows the authors of 
its degradation. An individual warrior at length gained 
the sole command, subordinating all who had formerly 
been in power, and at once and for ever crushed the 
republican liberties of Eome. In Csesar there was an 
ideal concentration of the same physical control that had 
previously been diffused among the consuls and senators. 
He thus became the living representative of Rome's 
tutelar deity, and an embodiment of his attributes ; but 
being less immortal than his prototype, was unable to 
bear the first pressure of so much power, and fell crushed 
beneath it. Nevertheless out of the disordered elements 
that succeeded his fall, a political fabric was constructed 
which seemed the very acme of perfection to which the 
physical principle could attain, and a social pyramid, of 
which the young Octavius formed the apex, erected out of 
the same adamantine material. Looking, then, at the 
imperial city, now in the Augustan age, encompassing an 
area of some fifty miles, with its four millions of inha- 
bitants, and within whose walls were the finest specimens 
of Grecian art, obelisks and columns from Egypt, the 
most rare and costly manufactures of Asia, gold, silver, 
and precious stones from all nations, enriched in short 
with the spoils of a conquered world ; in these we see only 
the splendid acquisitions resulting from a long and 
arduous course of special training. And though one 
must ever admire the power of that principle, which even 
partially exerted can effect so much; yet the moralist 
and the Christian can only sigh over the consequences 
of such misdirected energy, and no other feeling will 
arise in a well-regulated mind on reviewing those scenes, 
than would naturally occur on entering the castle of some 
bold and successful robber, filled with the glittering 
trophies of his midnight murders. 



CHAP.TEK IV. 

It has been said that the progress of a nation from 
barbarism to civilisation exhibits phenomena in many 
respects similar to those of an individual passing from in- 
fancy to manhood ; but the parallel may equally be applied 
to the entire world. In the infancy of man appetite 
and passion are the sole impulses to action, and the gra- 
tifying of these his chief pleasure. But in the progress 
of life experience develops higher impulses arising from 
impressions received from external nature, the gratifying of 
which affords a still higher pleasure. In time reflection 
teaches him to distinguish more nicely between objects cal- 
culated to produce pleasure and those that give pain, his 
self-love seeking its gratification in the former and avoid- 
ing the latter. As his intellect becomes more matured 
and a brighter light is shed around his path, he sees yet 
higher sources of gratification arising out of abstract 
views of nature, the desire for which is a purely mental 
craving, and its indulgence equally a mental pleasure. 

In exact proportion, therefore, as any one is enlight- 
ened, will he be able to discriminate between the sources 
of pleasure and pain, so far as his mental and bodily 
nature is concerned ; and a similar course is taken in the 
gradual development of the moral affections ; but as these 
lie still deeper in the nature of man, and are passive 



62 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

under the influence of external impressions, they require 
the assistance of a borrowed light to show them what 
things to choose and what to reject. 

The inexperienced and unaided intellect of man, indeed, 
is not quite sufficient to enable him to discriminate be- 
tween what is good and bad either for his body or his 
mind, much less for the desires of his moral nature. He 
may, however, see much of the former either by instinct 
or reason, and choose or reject accordingly; but he requires 
almost entirely to be shown or rather guided into a 
proper selection of objects for the gratification of the 
latter. If no correct guidance be afforded to the moral 
affections, they will be taken hold of by surrounding 
objects, and involuntarily trained into the formation of 
ruling habits, which will be of course productive of happi- 
ness or misery according to the bias they receive. It is, 
therefore, of the last importance that a borrowed experience 
and reflection be called to aid in guiding the outward 
tendency of these faculties to proper objects. Though 
passive and yielding in themselves, when trained to ma- 
turity and excellence they subordinate the whole faculties 
of mind and body, rendering them instrumental in pro- 
moting the highest pleasures of which man is capable ; 
and if they are of a more delicate nature, and require 
more careful attention than the mental and animal 
powers, the fruit they yield amply repays such labour, 
and is infinitely more valuable. 

So has it been, then, in the progress to perfection of 
the universal man. In the world's infancy his appetites 
and passions demanded his first care and attention, and 
to supply these with greater facility the rude arts were 
invented. From these inventions a mental desire was 
created, seeking its gratification in kindred pursuits. But 
as one want satisfied only creates another, the desires of 



PHILOSOPHY OP TRAINING. 63 

his moral nature next sought gratification. The full 
satisfying of these, however, depending not only upon 
external objects, but in a reaction proceeding from them, 
to produce which he had no natural desire, having little 
sympathy with the objects themselves until enlightened 
reason showed him the advantages of such a reciprocity, 
it is easy to suppose that a long period in the history of 
man would elapse ere the happiness arising from such a 
gratification of the benevolent faculties would be expe- 
rienced, and much longer before anything like a correct 
system of principles could be deduced from such a rare 
practice. 

Yet. as a desire and capacity for this happiness are 
inherent in the nature of man, many were the expedients 
resorted to both by enlightened nations and individuals 
to gratify them ; but all of which proceeding upon the 
principle of making self the recipient of pleasure without 
first communicating it to others, failed in supplying the 
full measure of enjoyment. The admirable moral pre- 
cepts deduced by the wisdom and experience of Socrates, 
Pythagoras, and other heathen sages, merely supplied this 
moral desideratum up to a certain point. They showed 
the pleasures of the passive rather than of the active 
virtues, of refraining from doing evil rather than the 
doing of good, of benevolence rather than beneficence. 

But as bodily and mental action is no less necessary 
than occasional rest, so is the outward action of the 
moral powers as necessary to their gratification as passive 
indulgence. And as the mere stoical benevolence of hea- 
.then philosophy had thus within it no principle of reaction 
and self- diffusion, it was consequently inadequate fully to 
supply the moral necessities of man. 

A higher light seemed, therefore, necessary than that 
reflected by the unaided intellect of man to discover the 



64 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

seeming paradox, that the true secret of moral happiness 
consists not in the immediate gratification of self, hut 
in the reflection of a happiness bestowed upon others. 
It was reserved for the light of the Gospel to introduce 
upon earth this new principle in moral science ; and in 
the simple command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
thyself," there was implanted upon earth a standard prin- 
ciple of action and a basis of education destined in time 
to draw around it all the science and philosophy in the 
world. 

Yet an erroneous practice from a right principle is 
much more pernicious than a correct practice from a 
wrong one. Neither the wisdom of the ancients nor the 
revelation of the Gospel, though adapted to render man 
as happy as his nature would permit, effected any imme- 
diate moral revolution upon earth. These served merely 
as so many lights pointing out the different paths to hap- 
piness and to misery, but men were left to choose the one 
or the other, according to their own will. Another element 
in moral training was therefore necessary, namely, the 
education of the will and the habits, and this is also 
abundantly supplied in the rewards held out to those who 
keep the Gospel commandments. These do not, however, 
consist in something beyond , the commandments, but in 
the keeping of them. This is the allurement held out to 
commence a course of beneficence, the practice of which, 
though at first disagreeable, engages the mind, and 
ultimately bends the will in the same direction. By the 
repetition of such acts the will and practice at length go 
together, or rather the former precedes the latter, and 
hence the inward habit is formed, incessantly prompting 
the outward conduct. 

These principles with others, that taught the supe- 
riority of kindness, gentleness, and love, over hatred, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 65 

anger, and violence ; the forgiveness of injuries, and be- 
stowing of benefits in return ; the doing good to others, 
expecting no recompense, &c, were in reality so many 
" lights shining in a dark place;" and though destined 
one day to irradiate the whole earth, they have often 
been all but swallowed up in profound darkness. They 
were left to encounter the same obstacles with which other 
discoveries in morals and physics have often to contend; 
and in their progress down to us, as if to show by 
the most striking examples, not only their inefficacy as a 
rule of life, but extreme danger when entertained as mere 
speculative opinions, they have in many cases formed a 
nucleus around which have been gathered, perhaps, 
more prejudicial errors, giving rise to more human misery, 
than all the rites of paganism ever produced. In all the 
preceding systems of heathen superstition* indeed, we 
find no parallel in atrocious crime to that perpetrated by 
papal Borne sanctioned by the name of Christianity. 
This, however, is but a natural consequence of a mis- 
directed application of the venerative faculties. Of all 
others these require the most careful education ; other- 
wise, if excited beyond mediocrity, and unbalanced by 
reason, their predominance will lead to superstition and 
zealotism. The revelations of the Gospel contain abund- 
ant materials for polemical controversy, to indulge in 
which, is much more agreeable than to reduce its 
doctrines into individual practice. The early " fathers" 
embarked heart and soul in these hair-splitting con- 
troversies, and by their subtle reasonings only ren- 
dered the mysteries of revelation the more mysterious. 
To propagate their favourite dogmas, too, no means were 
left untried, and the streams of heavenly knowledge 
became at last so troubled by an intermixture of earthly 
waters as to prove fatal to all who drank them. The 



66 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

few sublime precepts of Christianity first communicated 
to the world became so obscured by the mists of error, 
prejudice, and superstition, as to be comparatively pow- 
erless as a means of moralizing the people. Yet, in 
proportion as they became inefficacious for this end, did 
they become serviceable in promoting the political and 
ambitious purposes of those in power. A false light was 
thus afforded to the venerative faculties, guiding them to 
the performance of actions directly opposed to the spirit 
of the Gospel. 

By training these into excess, therefore, the priests of 
Catholic Rome had, in the people, the most willing and 
ready instruments for executing their selfish and brutal 
desires. Eeligion became an engine of temporal power 
and a means of gratifying the sordid passions of those in 
authority ; and again were renewed, but under darker 
colours, the scenes of ancient Rome in the long war 
of the crusades, in which Palestine, where the blood of 
Christ was shed to give peace on earth and good-will to 
men, became one vast reservoir for the blood of those who 
fought under the influence of the most malignant passions 
and fiendish hatred. 

Such, then, are some of the effects of a partial and mis- 
directed education, both in a national and universal point 
of view. In all these cases the animal and mental de- 
sires operating under different circumstances were alone 
the ruling motives ; while the moral feelings, that ought 
ever to have the ascendency, were kept in abeyance or 
entirely perverted. No correct system of guidance was 
ever applied to these in training them into ruling habits. 
They were ever left to the chance education of circum- 
stances, or merely enlightened by the teaching of moral 
precepts. Thus in ancient Rome and Sparta the animal 
propensities were educated to excess, and became pre- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 67 

dominant. The habits of those nations were such as in 
general to repress all the finer feelings by rendering them 
callous both to their own individual sufferings and to 
those of others. They were buried under an adamantine 
soil, above the surface of which they were never permitted 
to appear ; and whatever rays of intellect were emitted 
merely illumined the soil without warming and calling 
them forth into life and energy. In Athens an intel- 
lectual education was unsustained by a sound practical 
morality. Taste and refinement were there the master 
virtues, the cultivation of which was certainly much 
nearer the objects of a humane and civilizing education:; 
and when we add the gymnasium of physical training so 
perfect among the Athenians, we have among that people 
many models after which we ourselves ought to copy. 
But still these were only a partial education, a polishing 
of the external man, to the neglect of his higher powers; 
while the morality that was inculcated was the mere pre- 
ceptive instructions of Socrates, and the passive virtues, 
not the diffusive benevolence of the Gospel. In Egypt, 
the first dawning of literature, the arts and sciences, 
elicited feelings of wonder, devotion, and superstition; 
the demoralizing effects of which were only counter- 
acted by an almost equal devotion to mechanical indus- 
try and mental improvement. But while the head and 
the hands were thus engaged, the feelings of the heart 
were left unregulated. In Carthage, all the powers of body 
and soul were engrossed in one pursuit, and that the most 
selfish in which man can be engaged, — the acquisition 
of riches ; and it needs not, therefore, be told what were 
the lam en table results of such an avaricious spirit. In 
papal Rome the religious feelings were called forth into 
unnatural excitement, and a fanatical zeal for propa- 
gating the mere dogmas of Christianity, lighted up in the 



68 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

hearts of men the worst passions of which human nature 
is susceptible. 

Thus, in all these different features of character stamped 
upon man, either by a system of under or over education, 
may visibly be traced the origin of nearly all the various 
forms of human misery under which the world has yet 
suffered. His whole powers have never, in any instance, 
had a simultaneous development. The balance has ever 
been disturbed from one cause or another, and strange it 
is, that the grossest and most earthly parts of his nature 
have hitherto been always in the ascendant : like the 
natural chaos of Ovid, the heavenly fires have never 
emerged from the confused and superincumbent elements, 
and chosen a place for themselves in the highest citadel. 
In some of the instances adduced we. see the bodily and 
mental powers trained almost to the height of perfection, 
but in no one instance^any system, in operation for moral- 
izing the habits. All the assistance that art and science 
could lend were applied in perfecting the former, and if 
the science of moral training was not altogether unknown, 
it was never reduced to practice on any extended basis. 
There has ever been a vast hiatus between a knowledge of 
its principles and their application as an art, and from a 
want of which connexion the fruits of virtue have never 
yet ripened to maturity in any land. The seeds may have 
been sown, but due cultivation has never been afforded. 

Similar effects are also produced upon individuals by 
a course of misdirected education, to those which result 
to communities. In this country, other influences were 
at work to counteract the bad effects of the evils enume- 
rated, in a national point of view ; but upon individual 
character they have had no less fatal an influence. I 
stop not at present to inquire how, as in the sequel I 
shall have abundant reason to show. The only inference 
intended to be drawn from the instances already adduced 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 69 

is, the paramount necessity of having education reduced 
to the tangible form of a science, studying it as such, 
and deducing some systematic mode of procedure in 
conducting the education of a human being. 

Each one of the faculties must be educated, but it 
must be by different and peculiar means, and each faculty 
must be exercised upon proper and legitimate objects, 
before the whole ma?i can be said to have received an 
education. And that a knowledge of an " art," of such 
importance in the moral economy of nature, should itself 
be carefully studied and practised by all who would 
undertake such a responsible duty, is, I think, no less 
clear a deduction. 

Like every other art, however, skill or proficiency in it 
can only be attained by practice. An easy matter it is 
for any writer on education to prescribe rules for a teacher 
to follow, but it is a far different and a much more diffi- 
cult thing to follow them. The surgeon has a much 
more difficult task to perform when he comes to inves- 
tigate the nature of diseases and wounds, and apply 
suitable remedies, than in the calm retirement of his 
study or the class room, in acquiring a speculative 
knowledge of anatomy. His head may be filled with 
correct principles, which a want of manual dexterity may 
render practically useless. He must both study and 
practise before he acquire a sufficiency of skill. And so 
must the teacher before he get acquainted with the art 
of communicating instruction. Nor can he attain to 
proficiency in the art by a process of self- instruction any 
more than the surgeon. It is necessary that he undergo 
a course of practical discipline founded upon correct 
philosophical principles. In his own person he must 
form a connecting link between the art and the science of 
education. Enlightened by the principles of the latter 
eh will understand how he ought to instruct, and prac- 



70 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

tising after some model, he will at length become trained 
to the mechanical art. 

An obvious inference hence arises that as an instru- 
ment for training others, he must first be trained him- 
self. An apparatus and materials of a different kind 
are, therefore, necessary to prepare such instruments 
from those required in a juvenile education. They must 
be moulded after a certain form, and properly tempered, 
burnished, and sharpened for the work they have to per- 
form. They must be correct models to others, and there- 
fore modelled upon correct principles themselves. Any 
school where these principles are in operation is a normal 
school, that is, an institution for exhibiting the rules 
according to which teachers ought to practise the art of 
education ; but it will, not be complete without materials 
for practising with, and a visible pattern to copy after, 
namely, a model school. 

Such an apparatus is a phenomenon of modern days, 
and supplies a desideratum which every candid teacher 
must acknowledge he has felt on entering upon his duties. 
Hitherto most writers have merely regarded education 
as a convenient theme for speculation, and most teachers 
have entered upon the practice of it trusting to their own 
resources in arriving at a correct system. But it is of no 
more avail for a teacher, when he comes to the practice of 
his art, to have merely read an able treatise on education, 
than for a surgeon to be only speculatively informed 
regarding the bodily functions. Indeed, in proportion as 
the science of mind and morals is more abstruse than 
that of animal physiology, and its principles established 
upon a more shifting basis owing to the numberless 
external causes which affect human character, both know- 
ledge and experience are infinitely more necessary to con- 
stitute a teacher than a surgeon. But any general system 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 71 

of training to these qualifications has never yet been 
established to any extent — means have hitherto been 
wanting in the foundation of normal and model institu- 
tions for combining a knowledge of principles with prac- 
tice, so as to bring the didactic art to any degree of 
perfection. However w T ell educated an individual may 
be in himself, and however much he may have read and 
studied books on education, when once he really puts his 
hand to the work of instructing others, it is at least long 
before he can find himself at home in the practice. He 
will find a want of method in all his procedure, both as 
regards the form of putting questions, and the kind of 
questions and exercises to be put, in order not only to 
inform properly, but to train the intellect and guide the 
moral powers, which the mere reading of educational 
works can never supply. Neither is it enough that he 
may have seen another skilful teacher successfully prac- 
tising the art, or have attended as a spectator at some 
well-regulated school. He may continue there for years 
scrutinising the best systems, examining the best modes 
of framing questions, and witnessing the superiority of 
moral influence over physical terror in governing the 
disobedient, and all the mechanical movements and organ- 
isation of the classes. But, if he does not throw himself 
into the work, and with sections of the children practise 
the same modes, endeavour to acquire the same aptitude 
for communicating instruction, and developing the intel- 
lect and moral faculties, and the same means of gaining 
a moral control, for all practical purposes he might as 
well never have entered the institution. To undergo 
some probationary course of this kind, is, therefore, the 
paramount duty of every one who would undertake the 
responsible duties of a trainer of youth. 



CHAPTER V. 

Few persons are really aware that there is any difficulty 
in conveying instruction to the minds of children beyond 
the fact of getting that same instruction into their own 
minds, and still fewer how difficult it is. It has been 
said to be natural to some people to acquire this aptitude, 
and it may be so to a certain extent ; but such individuals 
must form an exception to the general rule. There are 
grown-up people to whom, from a natural infantile sim- 
plicity and playfulness of manner, children have a much 
greater affinity than to others of graver habits. And 
there are some who from a certain facility in narrating 
striking incidents, or ordinary incidents in a striking 
manner, will attach children to them, and make their 
communications sink deep into the minds of the latter. 
But such instances are by no means more frequent in 
ordinary life, than the occasional phenomena of certain 
individuals exhibiting a natural genius for poetry or 
painting. In the one case it depends upon a superabun- 
dance of animal spirits and good humour, and on the 
other, upon a certain concreteness of intellect and minute- 
ness of detail, giving the power of so individualising 
abstractions as to render them visible and captivating to 
the' young mind. A mother is almost the only grown-up 
person who can naturally accommodate herself to the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 73 

dispositions of her own children, and to this extent she 
ought to be a model to the teacher of others. But in 
order to acquire any measure of this pliancy of manner, 
the man of a different moral habit must be educated up 
to it. Above his own natural inclination and habits 
there must be superinduced an artificial nature similar 
to those dispositions with which he is expected to sym- 
pathise ; and equally must a return be made to the sim- 
plicity of nature in picturing out his ideas, and rendering 
them visible to the concrete intellect of his pupil, before 
the latter can derive instruction from him. The opinion 
expressed by Pope concerning " writing," is equally appli- 
cable in this case. 

" True ease in teaching comes by art, not chance, 
As those move easiest who have learned to dance." 

Let us reflect for a moment what is the nature of this 
art. It is simply a process of painting, or picturing upon 
the mind of another, the same image that is in our own. 
All description, as every one knows, is analogous to the 
art of painting. In the former case, the image is pre- 
sented to the mind through the ear, and by words ; in the 
latter, through the eye, and by colours. But the object 
of both arts is the same, namely, the communicating of 
ideas; and hence the necessity teachers are under, of 
resorting to pictures and. diagrams, to aid in their verbal 
descriptions. From a painting, however, the whole idea 
rises in the mind at once ; but from a description, the 
image is slowly unfolded, and only seen by the mind 
vividly or otherwise, according to the accuracy of the 
description. If, then, it be a difficult art, and one in 
which few excel, to transfer to canvas the image of 
an object in such a manner as to convey to the mind a 
correct idea of its prototype, it is evidently much more so, 

E 



74 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

to call up in the mind ideas of absent objects in a palpable 
form by means of mere words. It matters not how vivid 
the impression may be on our own minds ; in endeavour- 
ing to convey a copy of this to another, we may only 
make a caricature. Any one, not an artist, may have as 
correct an impression of a landscape upon his mind as 
an artist himself; but it is only the latter who can trans- 
fer a copy of that impression to the canvas, so as to 
enable others to have the same idea or impression. And 
so is it with the teacher ; it matters not how learned his 
own mind may be, how well replenished with ideas, 
and how vividly soever he sees them — there is a power 
beyond this necessary to produce copies of these ideas on 
the minds of others. And the difficulty is increased 
from the circumstance of a matured intellect receiv- 
ing its impressions in a different way from that of an 
immature. The cultivated mind of an adult is like a 
more highly prepared and sensitive surface, that can 
catch the impression at once, and even through a dim 
medium ; the mind of a child must undergo a preparatory 
process, and be subjected to the most favourable in- 
fluences, before it can take up the picture. And, in fact, 
it is just this preparatory process that forms the legiti- 
mate province of a teacher's operations, rather than the 
painting. Unaware of this, the unskilful teacher com- 
mences instructing his pupil by the same means by which 
he attained his own knowledge. He communicates mere 
abstractions, that can never lay hold upon the unpolished 
fabric of the young mind, or at least be retained there 
any time ; and those terms to which he may be accus- 
tomed to attach certain ideas in his own mind, can 
awaken no corresponding train of thought in the mind of 
a child. They are like unassimilated food in the animal 
system, communicating no aliment to the frame, and only 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 75 

impeding digestion, or similar to the painter's undiluted 
materials stuck upon the canvas, instantly to fall off again. 
For example, what idea can arise in the mind of a child 
regarding a " rich farmer," if he be represented as an 
*' opulent agriculturist ?" or of a " falsehood,'"' described 
as " an act of moral turpitude ?" yet such are the terms 
in which many teachers delight to revel. They deliver 
themselves of their ideas lucidly enough, perhaps, if 
grown people were their auditors ; but a little cross-ex- 
amination of children after such lecturing would show 
that it was mere writing upon sand. Perhaps a better 
illustration of this sort of verbal instruction cannot be 
given, than by repeating the following anecdote taken 
from the " American Annals of Education." " A gentle 
man, not long ago, took up an apple to show a niece 
sixteen years of age, who had studied geography several 
years, something about the shape and motion of the 
earth. She looked at him a few minutes, and said with 
much earnestness, ' Why, uncle, you don't mean that the 
earth really turns round, do you?' He answered, 'But did 
you not learn that several years ago ?' ' Yes,' she replied, 
i I learned it, but I never knew it before.' " It certainly 
is very evident this young lady must have had one of 
these identical learned preceptors of whom I am speak- 
ing. It cannot be supposed that she would be ignorant 
of the usual vocabulary of astronomical and geogra- 
phical names, so fluently reiterated at fashionable schools, 
but for want of some tangible illustration, some picture, 
ocular or verbal, of the earth's revolution, her mind was 
as much a blank on that branch of study as before she 
went to school. And without a close scrutiny into the 
matter, any one may deceive himself in this way, A 
single word beyond the comprehension of a child may 
nullify a whole description, and irreparably mar the 

E 2 



76 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

image that was forming in his mind. Unless, there^ 
fore, ideas be infused into the mind of a pupil in a con- 
crete form and associated with some palpable object, there 
is no guarantee that they will remain there any time. 
And, unless too, the teacher leave his Latinity of style, 
and be content patiently to administer instruction in a 
diluted. Saxon phraseology and simple terms, he will only 
deceive himself as to the result of his labours. 

But training comprehends much more than this. It is 
something beyond the mere communicating of informa- 
tiou. It is a cultivation of the intellect itself, leading 
it to think and to deduce facts and conclusions from its 
own resources. Teaching is a process simply intended 
to enlighten and inform the mind, whatever be the nature 
of the subject communicated ; but training is an agency 
that takes cognizance of the whole powers both of body 
and mind. It is, besides, merely the perceptive faculties 
that are appealed to in teaching, upon which are im- 
printed ideas of sensation only, or at the most, reflective 
ideas through the channel of the senses. These faculties 
are thus the recipients of materials or data, which the 
judgment combines and arranges, giving birth to original 
thoughts of its own. Much, therefore, of course, depends 
upon teaching, as, according to the number and variety 
of facts and impressions made upon the intellect, has the 
judgment more or less the means at command of making 
its selection, and arriving at sound conclusions. In pro- 
portion to the vividness of these impressions, too, does 
the mind become enlightened, and the judgment see to 
form correct opinions. 

Still, this is only a knowledge without wisdom. With- 
out a sufficiency of information, in reasoning, conclusions 
may be drawn from too few premises, giving rise to what 
are called narrow opinions, or opinions resting upon so 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 77 

slender a basis that they cannot be supported. A person 
who is thus defectively informed, and whose opinions are 
so easily overthrown, is said to be of a weak understand- 
ing, compared with another whose opinions stand upon a 
broader foundation of facts. But the judgment must 
also be guided in making a proper selection of materials 
for this foundation. It is not enough that it sees them, 
and knows their individual qualities ; it must exert itself in 
selecting and combining in sufficient number and variety, 
such as are proper to form a sure foundation of argu- 
ments for its opinions. And the strength of these can 
only be tested by bringing them into contact with the 
opinions of another, in which comparison such as are 
most strongly supported by the evidence of facts, will 
prevail, just as, in a physical contest, the stronger party 
will overcome the weaker. Yet the race is not always to 
the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is it always 
the individual having his mind best stored with facts, whc 
is the ablest reasoner. In wrestling, a slender man, well 
skilled and trained, may overcome a stronger, if less 
acquainted with the art, and a mind much exercised in 
thinking, though less informed, will often arrive at more 
just conclusions than another highly enlightened and 
learned individual. Practice, therefore, in the art of 
reasoning, as well as in all other arts, is the true secret 
of perfection. There may, also, however, be a right and 
a wrong practice. Every one reasons in one way or 
another, and puts forth the powers of his mind into 
action, as naturally as those of his body ; but as in the 
physical exercise alluded to, in which certain principles 
must be acted upon, to ensure skill and dexterity, so 
must the reasoning faculties be artificially cultivated to 
develop fully their inherent strength. The inexperienced 
judgment must have a model by which to compare its 



78 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

opinions, and this is afforded in the matured and expe : 
rieneed judgment of another. It must also have some 
motives held out to it to allure to the practice of judging 
correctly, which motives form a sort of leading strings in 
the process of mental training ; and it is a proper under- 
standing of these, and skill in using them, that con- 
stitute the indispensable qualification of a mental 
trainer. 

Between teaching and training the mind, there is 
therefore a vast difference, and much more professional 
art necessary to the one than to the other. The former is 
simply an implanting of knowledge in the mind ; the 
latter is calling the mind itself into action, and teaching 
it a process of self- culture. In gardening, it is a much 
simpler operation merely to plant a tree, than afterwards 
to prune, bend, and direct its pliant branches. And as 
the root of the plant draws nourishment from the soil, the 
latter must also be cultivated and improved, in proportion 
to the fertility of which, will be the luxuriance and 
growth of the plant. So, in training the mind, its own 
native and artificial powers must be drawn out, and 
rendered available in cultivating and enriching the tree 
of knowledge so as to bring forth the fruits of wisdom. 

This is best effected by a peculiar mode of interroga- 
tion, to be explained hereafter, and it matters little for 
such a purpose what may be the subject of the lesson. 
By training the tendrils of the vine in a particular direc- 
tion, the whole plant will follow in the same course ; and 
the mind may be as much drawn into a habit of observa- 
tion and reflection from a well-directed lesson on a pin, 
as from the science of astronomy. A focus of attraction 
must be presented to the mind to concentrate its ideas 
upon a certain point, forming a stronger brilliancy, the 
reflection of which may develop new thoughts and ideas. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 70 

It requires, however, no ordinary insight into the work- 
ings of the human mind, thus to perceive upon what 
subjects it is enlightened, so as to reflect from thence a 
borrowed lustre upon the more obscure, by means of 
analogy and illustration. By these, the mind is self- 
illuminated, and reason shown the right path, and it 
is making use of certain collateral points of information 
as landmarks to guide it in its course ; but it also requires 
the outgoing of the mind itself, to arrive at a right con- 
clusion. The chief difficulty as well as the principal 
duty of the trainer is, therefore, to overcome the mental 
inertia by removing all needless obstacles out of the way, 
rendering the path smooth and pleasant, and giving an 
impulse by means of some exciting or alluring motive. 
If this object be attained, that is, if the mind be made 
willing to enter upon a system, and follow out a method 
of inductive reasoning, until a habit of close thinking be 
formed, it will ultimately do the same thing it was shown 
to do, and find out right conclusions itself. " Where 
there is a will there is a way," is a proverb equally true in 
mental development and self-culture, as in anything else ; 
and it is the trainer's noblest task so to harmonise this 
will and practice as to produce habits of correct thinking. 
To form this frame of mind is, therefore, of infinitely 
more importance than to communicate mere knowledge. 
The latter can do little more than impart individual ideas 
and isolated facts ; the former habituates the reasoning 
powers to embrace a connected train of thoughts and to 
arrive at general conclusions. A person will become 
sooner acquainted with the different streets and localities 
of a large city, if with a little assistance and his own 
observation he find his way through them, than by 
putting himself entirely under the guidance of another. 
By the latter mode he might reach a certain point sooner, 



80 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

and by a shorter way, than if he had to find it out himself 
but by the former, the general direction of the town would 
be much more strongly imprinted upon his memory, 
and a habit of attentive observation more fixed, by reason- 
ing out the position of an unknown point from certain 
known ones, and thus reaching it, than by being led to 
the place, or shown it by another. It might also be more 
agreeable for the time to be guided thither, but it would be 
more advantageous for the future, to guide himself. Still 
some assistance and information might be necessary to 
point out the intricacies and windings of the town to a 
stranger, and a similar assistance is necessary to guide the 
unsophisticated mind into a right train of ideas in form- 
ing a correct judgment. And herein lies the great differ- 
ence between a trained and a self-taught master. The 
latter proceeds at once to tell his pupil all he knows, to 
store his mind with facts, and dates, and circumstances 
in the abstract, which the mind itself has nothing to do 
but to receive. Now, if in the case of teaching a pupil 
unexplained words, they remain in the memory as so 
many dead letters, no less do these gratuitously imparted 
ideas only overload its powers without increasing its 
activity in administering to the judgment. The strength 
of the mind, like that of the body, is increased by exercis- 
ing itself, and by having opportunities afforded for 
reflection, and taking cognisance of its own thoughts and 
feelings. To guide it into such a channel, therefore, and 
to supply it with proper materials for reflection, are not 
matters that fall naturally in the way of the self- instructed 
teacher. In short, when we consider the complex mechan- 
ism of the mind itself, its difficulty of being properly un- 
derstood by the most profound thinkers, and the nature of 
those instruments and apparatus best adapted to set it in 
motion, and give it a right direction, and reflect that 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 81 

hitherto no preparatory instruction to the rash operator 
upon it was deemed necessary, we need scarcely wonder 
at anything else. 

These, however, are not the only subjects that demand 
study and practice. The guidance of the moral and 
religious feelings is a matter infinitely more responsible 
and difficult, and without some initiatory training no 
master ought ever to lay his hands upon that sacred work. 
While mere abstract knowledge and skill may go far 
to constitute a perfect mental trainer, a vast deal more 
is necessary to form a moral one. Patience and unfail- 
ing kindness are, indeed, indispensable qualifications even 
in mental discipline, but to train morally, the individual 
must himself be a pattern of all the virtues that adorn 
humanity; nor must these virtues be passive, but actively 
employed as instruments in giving birth to others, and 
in promoting corresponding sentiments in those under his 
influence. He will require a peculiar insight into the 
motives that regulate the tempers and form the conduct 
of children, to apply these beneficially. He must, in 
short, become a child himself in playfulness and simpli- 
city of manner, combined with which he must possess the 
penetration and experience of a sage. 

Were the human mind, as has been supposed, like a 
sheet of white paper, the task of the trainer would be 
comparatively an easy one. He could then impress or 
write upon it whatever character he chose, and the pupil's 
character would be an exact transcript of that of the 
master. Preceptive discipline and example might then 
do all- that was necessary, as no internal counteracting 
principle would give the faculties an opposite bias. But 
the moral nature of man is evolved from the physical, 
and has its root deeply fixed therein. The seed may be 
planted by the hand of Heaven, but its innate tendencies 

e 3 



82 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

receive no inconsiderable bias from the soil in which it 
has been sown. It may flourish or decay, may never rise 
above the surface, or bear luxuriant fruit ; but as much of 
this will depend upon the nature of that soil from which 
it receives or is denied nourishment, as the outward culti- 
vation of the trainer. In a word, the first fruits of virtue 
and vice depend much upon certain constitutional and acci- 
dental physical temperaments. Still, though a good tree 
cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor a corrupt tree good fruit, 
the native excellence of the one may be infinitely deterio- 
rated by bad management, and the stunted growth and 
repulsive qualities of the other trained to a high degree 
of perfection by proper care and attention, and so may the 
innate tendencies of the moral being be improved or 
deteriorated according to the cultivation it receives. The 
form of the moral character cannot, therefore, be arbitra- 
rily determined by a trainer, as so much depends upon 
bodily temperament, and the influence of surrounding 
circumstances. But many of these can be neutralised if 
pernicious, and taken advantage of if beneficial in rear- 
ing to maturity the delicate plants of virtue and goodness. 
There is a much closer sympathy between the physical 
and moral powers than between the latter of these and 
the mental, which have more the character of instru- 
ments in supplying the wants of the others. It is the 
bodily wants and necessities seeking their legitimate gra- 
tification, and being denied them, that first gives rise 
to ill-temper and peevishness. In the absence of lan- 
guage to express these wants, they are made known by 
crying and restlessness; and even should such symptoms 
be appeased by gentle means, if the producing cause 
has not been removed, the disappointment still leaves 
a feeling of unhappiness. This first feeling of unhappi- 
ness or want of feeling happy is, therefore, a moral want 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 83 

arising from the absence of a natural gratification, and 
has a prejudicial influence upon the general character. 
Or, on the other hand, if a child feels that crying pro- 
cures a gratification of its wants, and resorts to it on 
every recurrence of them, a spirit of selfishness and obsti- 
nacy supervenes above the gratification of its natural 
desires. To gratify these wants in their incipient stages, 
or rather to anticipate them, is therefore, the foundation 
of moral training ; but to over- gratify them would merely 
create other wants arising from bodily disease, the unhap- 
piness of which would no less have a demoralising ten- 
dency than that produced by the wants of nature. 

The animal nature must thus be kept equally balanced 
between these two extremes. It is the surplus, defi- 
ciency, or unsuitable nature of its gratifications that first 
deteriorates the moral sensibilities. If its physical wants 
are not fully attended to and supplied, there is no foun- 
dation laid for developing the higher aspirations, all the 
child's energies are then directed to the gratification of the 
former, and a spirit of mere animal selfishness is fostered 
and kept alive; or, if these be pampered and over- 
indulged, the consequent physical ailments debilitating 
the nervous system, also re-act prejudicially upon the 
moral powers. But when the natural wants are suitably 
supplied, the feelings overflow in cheerfulness and good 
humour. The gratifying of a physical want creates, 
therefore, a moral feeling towards the gratifier, and this is 
the first outgoing of benevolence that the moral trainer 
must regulate. If these budding affections be met by 
the smiles of love and kindness, they will expand like 
the rose in a genial atmosphere, but if chilled by cold 
looks and a repulsive manner, they will as certainly wither 
and die. The atmosphere of a mother's love is, there- 
fore, prepared beforehand to receive, nourish, and increase 



84 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

these feelings. The smile of the grateful infant is met by 
the beaming looks of the fond mother, and love grows up 
apace between them. Yet the child must first feel gratified 
before grateful. The very words indicate that it must be 
made so ; and when this is done, the moral feeling of grati- 
tude as naturally arises as the original desire of being 
physically gratified. The one is the fruit of the other, 
which when nourished to maturity, amply repays the 
cultivator. 

A knowledge of what is necessary for this moral culture, 
must consequently comprehend an acquaintance with the 
* organisation of the body. It is not enough that love 
prompts a gratification of the child's animal wants, for, 
unless that love be guided by principle, it may as readily 
educe feelings of ingratitude. There must be an enlight- 
ened discrimination made between the legitimate wants of 
nature and certain artificial desires, the gratifying of 
which is alike injurious to body and mind. If the affec- 
tion of a parent be so strong as to deny nothing that the 
instinctive impulses of childhood may demand, this over- 
supplying of the animal wants will create an artificial 
appetite, the satisfying of which corrupts the physical 
nature, and prevents the moral feelings of gratitude from 
arising. The rank weeds of selfishness will overrun the 
soil, and choke the delicate plants of an indigenous and 
spontaneous benevolence. When a child thus perceives 
that its gratification, and not its advantage, is the govern- 
ing principle of its earliest attendant, it is ruined. It has 
then gained the ascendency over her, and simply makes 
her an instrument in the indulgence of its unregulated 
desires ; and as most of these can afford no natural plea- 
sure to the one, neither can the other reap any gratitude 
in return. Hence the reason is, that pampered and over- 
indulged children are always disobedient and ungrateful 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 85 

to those having the care of them, and intensely selfish in 
their conduct to all others. 

Thus it is, that a knowledge of physics is a knowledge 
of the source of morals too. And this is much more 
necessary in infancy than in after years, when language 
comes to aid the child in expressing its physical neces- 
sities. The cries of an infant are the language of nature 
seeking some relief from pain, but as these are unintelli- 
gible in themselves, other means must be taken to ascer- 
tain the cause of complaint. This must simply be inferred 
from a general knowledge of the physiology of the human 
frame, and removed by the application of a remedy 
derived from the principles of the same science. There 
must be a sound body and an enlightened mode of cul- 
tivating its powers, and supplying its necessities, before 
an atmosphere of pure morality can be thrown around it; 
otherwise, like the exhalations of a marshy soil polluting 
the natural air, will the affections become tainted and un- 
healthy under the influence of physical infirmities. But 
even should these natural wants be anticipated, and the 
inherent cause of ill-temper and peevishness removed, the 
same injury may be inflicted upon a child's moral nature 
by the ill-temper of its early attendant. If the cause 
be not inherent, it may be communicated from with- 
out. The atmosphere may be impregnated by vapours 
wafted from another clime. 

It is not a little upon the manner in which a 
child's wants are supplied, that its own manners or 
morals depend ; according to the mode of its own treat- 
ment will it treat others, and as others feel towards it, so 
will it feel towards them. No one can esteem a gift, 
however valuable in itself, if proffered ungraciously. If 
one's feelings be hurt by the manner of bestowing it, not 
only does no gratitude arise towards the bestower, but 



86 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

both himself and his gift are regarded with natural aver- 
sion. The intended recipient may, indeed, he termed 
ungrateful, and, so far as the individual gift is con- 
cerned, properly so ; but no fault can attach to him for 
not feeling otherwise, when no attempt was ever made to 
gratify that feeling. It was an improper feeling that 
prompted the gift, rendered apparent to the receiver by the 
manner in which it was offered, and consequently awak- 
ened no proper feeling in return. And even should 
necessity compel a reception of the gift, the moral feeling 
of gratitude would be nothing increased. That must be 
called forth by other means not at all depending upon 
the intrinsic value of a benefaction. If a present of 
money be given to a needy person amid reproaches for his 
poverty, he will at once perceive that some sinister motive 
inspired the gift, and will only despise the hypocrisy of 
the giver ; whereas the few kind and compassionate words 
of a poor neighbour might instantly elicit the warmest feel- 
ings of gratitude. The human heart " leaps kindly back 
to kindness," in infancy, as well as age ; and though the 
child cannot reason out the cause of his feelings like the 
man, they are no less regulated by a similar cause. 

As the general conduct of an individual is made up of 
particular acts, so is the general character composed of 
individual feelings. If the majority of his actions be 
good, he is said to exhibit a virtuous conduct, and if bad, 
that it is vicious. Again, as conduct is the outward fruit 
of character, it is inferred that an individual whose gene- 
ral conduct is good, has a good character, and if bad, the 
reverse. The conduct naturally flows from the character, 
however much the manifestation of it may be disguised 
by artifice. But character is only an aggregate of the 
feelings matured into habits. It is a condition of the 
moral being produced by a majority of certain classes of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 87 

feelings, the union and strength of which evolve a corre- 
sponding conduct. These feelings, it has "been said, 
originate not so much in any mere gratification of the 
natural desires, as in the antecedent feelings that prompted 
such gratification, an instinctive perception of which is 
conveyed to a child hy the manner of the gratifier, — and 
there is a certain manner in which every act is performed 
to a child by its attendant, which at the earliest dawning 
of consciousness is perceived and appreciated hy the 
former. Thus manner is the medium through which 
impressions are first conveyed to the feelings, and is the 
language or exponent of morals. The affectionate man- 
ner of a mother towards her child is that expression of 
her feelings, by which its moral nature is impressed with 
similar feelings towards herself. And as in literal lan- 
guage each word conveys an idea, or part of an idea, most 
of these natural feelings have this appropriate expression. 
Thus it is that morality is entirely independent of 
materialism, though arising out of it. It floats around 
and above it like the atmosphere about the earth, or as the 
flame of a lamp may often be seen completely detached 
from the materials that support it. The moral principle 
both acts upon the material, and is acted upon by it, but 
is in itself a distinct essence. The whole conduct is, 
therefore, in a great degree, governed by feelings, and 
originates in them, while they themselves are impressed 
upon the character by the language of the affections. If 
a preponderance of them be good, the character will be 
generally so; but if evil, the reverse. The mother's affec- 
tion is the true source of these impressions, ordained to 
this end by nature, but more than nature is necessary to 
regulate the manifestation of that affection. If love^ 
untempered by reason and morality, impress a character 
upon the child, the latter will become unreasonable in its 



88 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

moral desires, and be guided by the blind instinct of 
feeling alone. Or, if the bare reason and rigid morality 
of a nurse without much affection be the source of its 
impressions, the warm feelings of gratitude and love, 
which are the primary elements of a good character, will 
be undeveloped. 

A very young child has no moral character, but acts 
from the impulse of its individual feelings. Its habits 
being unformed, it is not individually responsible for its 
isolated actions, and only knows they are right or wrong 
from the smile or frown, the warning or encouragement 
of its mother. It has no moral sense of duty beyond the 
feeling conveyed by these signs. The mother is its con- 
science-keeper, and the pain felt on committing a wrong 
action, arises from a sense of having displeased her, or 
the satisfaction of a right one from having given her 
pleasure. 

These impressions of pleasure or pain, however, are the 
means of educating its own conscience. As intellect 
ripens, and a mother s injunctions are given to avoid one 
set of actions and perform another, these stand in the 
place of herself, and are obeyed for her sake. Love to 
her will constrain obedience to them, and as conscience 
quickens, a deviation from such commands, or an adher- 
ence to them, will equally be followed by a moral pleasure 
or pain. The child is now acting so far upon a principle 
of abstract morality, the motive to which is filial love, but 
it is not an abstraction of reason, at least made by its 
own reason. The mother is still responsible for its con- 
duct, as it is her wishes that the child obeys ; and the 
inherent criminality or merit of the action to which the 
child is instrumental, is hers also. If it be founded in 
reason and religion, the child is thus drawn by the cords 
of love into the obedience of a moral principle, or simply 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 80 

trained to do what is right without knowing the reason of 
so doing. Love habituates into the practice before reason 
deduces the principle ; hut when the habit is formed, 
obedience to the principle naturally follows. The mother 
is thus to the infant instead of God ; she is a moral law- 
giver, impressing a character upon her child through the 
medium of its affections. But a more abstract sense of 
right and wrong must be experienced, before the child is 
a moral being, acting upon the convictions of its own 
reason. The child as yet only feels and acts the morality 
of parental love. As reason dawns, a deduction must be 
made from this to the absolute requirements and duties 
of morality. The happiness of obedience to a loving 
parent in a right action must be shown to be inherent in 
morality itself, and an ordination of God ; and as it has 
been felt in particular actions, the mind and habits are thus 
predisposed to virtue in general. And as in particular, 
the happiness of obedience increases the child's affection 
to its parent, so in general, the happiness of an abstract 
obedience to morality induces and strengthens an affection 
towards God, the universal parent. When the nature 
of this connexion is somewhat felt and seen, the child 
is to that extent a moral agent acting upon the warnings 
of his own conscience. When reason tells him he has 
done right, his conscience will feel gratified, or, if wrong, 
pained. Yet it depends upon the degree of enlighten- 
ment he possesses, and the previous education of his con- 
science, whether it yet performs aright its monitorial 
functions. His intellect must, therefore, be taught the 
duties of morality, and a course of preceptive instruction 
keep pace with the formation of his habits. 

Now when a nurse scolds a child for crying, and 
afterwards supplies its want, the grateful feeling which 
would otherwise have arisen is repressed, and an emana- 



90 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

tion from her own angry spirit implanted in its stead. 
This " root of bitterness/' by a repetition of the same treat- 
ment soon bears fruit, manifesting itself in continued 
crying and peevishness even after its wants have been 
satisfied. The original cause of this habit may have 
been removed, but the moral effect is perpetuated by 
another cause ; and as time develops more fully the same 
unhappy temperament breaking out in occasional fits of 
anger and resentment, more violence of temper will be 
exhibited by the attendant, only adding fuel to the flames 
of these passions, and training them into an uncontrol- 
lable bad temper in mature life. 

The manner of a trainer, therefore, independently of 
inherent physical causes, being thus grafted upon the 
moral constitution of a child, will bring forth those 
fruits upon the good or bad qualities of which will depend 
the ultimate happiness or misery of that child. How in- 
dispensable is it, then, that those having the earliest care 
of children should themselves be morally trained, or, at 
all events, have their natural tempers so schooled into 
obedience that no outward manifestation of anger should 
be exhibited before their charge ! Our ignorance of that 
mysterious union between mind and matter, morals and 
physics, is yet so imperfect, that the most intelligent and 
active trainer may fail to detect the origin of many im- 
moral tendencies in children, which can then only be 
counteracted after development. But if the light already 
afforded by mental science were fully applied in practice, 
how much could be done in training to almost Godlike 
perfection the capabilities of a human soul ! 

In this department of training, however, neither know- 
ledge nor skill, perhaps, is so essential as example. Each 
is indispensable, but no acted character is perfect ; and 
however skilfully a trainer may demean himself towards a 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 91 

child, if his conduct before others contradict the general 
tenor of this professional artificial character, much of his 
training will be nugatory. There is no simulation in na- 
ture, — all is reality ; and it is the natural conduct of an 
attendant that is most naturally imitated by the child. 
If nature and art thus disagree in a trainer, the child's 
confidence in him is destroyed. Two different standards 
are presented, and the child if not kept in ignorance 
how to act at all, will follow those actions apparently 
the most natural in his guide. The latter must, there- 
fore, not only do before the child what he wishes him to 
do, but he must he to him and to all else the same thing 
he wants him to be. There are, however, no perfect 
beings any more than perfect actors upon earth, and the 
frailties of human nature appear as natural and are as 
easily imitated as its excellences. A knowledge of some 
art in disguising many of the natural feelings is, there- 
fore, indispensable in a trainer. There is much more 
acting in the world than this, and of a much more 
questionable character. 

Most people are now aware that moral training com- 
mences in the nursery, but few indeed act upon the prin- 
ciple in the selection of their nurse. The very fact of 
such a person being a hireling and a stranger is inauspi- 
cious. She may bestow the most unremitting attention 
upon her charge, and be a paragon of faithfulness and 
care in all things pertaining to its bodily comfort — thus 
laying a good foundation for moral culture ; but there 
must be a superstructure also, and it is the untiring love 
and affection of a mother that are alone equal to such 
a task. These cannot be hired or bought with a price. 
Her affection is the only natural source of moral train- 
ing, for, however much a nurse may act up to such a cha- 
racter, it is acting still ; and the worst of it is, the mask 



92 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

is more frequently assumed in presence of the mother 
than of the child. Before the former an affection is 
often feigned towards the child, from interested motives ; 
hut alone with the latter, her natural temper regains its 
sway. The irritahility and fretfulness of the child exhaust 
her patience, and, being fretted herself, she is utterly 
incompetent to soothe the temper of her charge. 

Besides, among the qualifications of a nurse are seldom 
or never reckoned those mental attainments necessary 
to perceive the first outgoings of the intellect and moral 
powers, and to guide them to proper objects. It is sim- 
ply a knowledge of bodily wants that is considered 
essential; but unless a vast deal more supplementary 
knowledge be brought to the task of mental and moral 
cultivation, her duties will be but superficially performed. 
And if the unwise affection of a mother overdo much by 
gratifying too fully every desire, little, if anything, can 
be done where that affection is not. Skill and know- 
ledge may effect a " counterfeit presentment" of it, but like 
the barren rays of a wintry sun, however bright, they 
will produce but a scanty harvest of the moral affections. 
A mother's love is warm as well as bright, under the 
genial influence of which alone the affections can be 
brought to maturity ; and no one but a mother can 
naturally bestow that love. 

A hired nurse — however qualified for her office, men- 
tally, morally, and physically — is at the best but an artist, 
and, in nine cases out of ten, a self-taught one. A 
mother has the inspiration of nature for her guide, and 
an enthusiasm in her labours of love that never fails. It 
is, therefore, unquestionably an evil in the very outset of 
nursery training when these labours cannot be rendered 
available, and when a child is thus handed over to the 
stepmother offices of the very best nurse. It is hardly 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 98 

possible that both should agree in their treatment of its 
physical wants and ailments ; and how much less in any 
uniform system of mental and moral education ! It is a 
similar evil to that which often prevails in the education 
of after life, when children are hurried about from one 
school to another and one system to another, the con- 
sequence of which is, that they frequently receive the 
benefits of none, but the worst parts of all. The kind 
and judicious advice of an intelligent mother will be 
often entirely lost by the exhibition of a contrary prac- 
tice in the nurse. The example of the former is most 
seen by the child, and, consequently, more imitated than 
that of the mother. Much, too, of the child's natural 
affection for its parent is thus turned aside, and the 
foundation of filial obedience consequently weakened. 

It has been already said that much of the basis of a cha- 
racter depends upon internal physical causes. This is the 
reason why some children, even under the same treatment, 
often exhibit so great a difference in point of firmness 
or flexibility of temper, one or other of these tendencies 
becoming apparent among the earliest indications of intel- 
ligence, and each of them requiring a peculiar manage- 
ment. The child of a pliant and impressible disposition 
is, of course, easily managed ; but from this very facility 
readily imbibes all the more objectionable points of its 
nurse's character. In after life, too, it as easily falls a 
prey to. the prejudices and errors of those with whom 
it may associate, as their better qualities. Such an indi- 
vidual is seldom of an original turn of mind, has few 
habits and ideas of his own, but assumes them at second 
hand from others. This pliancy of manner is, hoAvever, 
very gratifying to an attendant, as it saves much trouble, 
but it is often trouble spared at the expense of much 
that is necessary in fortifying the character against 



94 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

falling into a state of comparative imbecility and help- 
lessness. In this case means should be taken to induce 
habits of self-reliance, both as regards the supplying of 
its own bodily wants, and reasoning out the truth of 
its own ideas and the principles upon which its feelings 
depend. 

On the other hand, the firm child often requires a vast 
deal of trouble to make it obey a single command or adopt 
the simplest habit. It has a will of its own, which 
requires to be bent and guided into obedience by the 
influence of affection, not broken into it by violence ; and 
proper motives of action should be exhibited, that the na- 
tural force of its character may be expended in legitimate 
employments. Were the same trouble that is often taken 
by a nurse to overcome a fit of obstinacy, and to compel 
a reluctant compliance with some foolish order for the 
mere sake of enforcing an abstract obedience, employed to 
find out suitable means of gratifying this energy of will, 
much more pleasure would result to the one and infi- 
nitely more advantage to the other. The self-willed and 
stubborn child is indeed often as much in the right as its 
nurse, and, despite of its injudicious treatment, in after life 
becomes not unfrequently one of the choice spirits of 
our race. 

Such are only a few of the principles essential to be 
known in nursery training, an ignorance or neglect of 
which will be found to have developed habits that must 
be eradicated when a child comes under the influence 
of a school trainer, — a process which requires no less skill 
and patience than the original formation of good ones. 
This, indeed, is the most ungracious and disagreeable 
part of his duty, requiring an amount of self-training and 
self-denial that few men can boast of possessing. And 
smaller still is the number of those who bring to the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 95 

task any of that artistic skill deemed so essential 
even in the mechanical professions. The mere artist in 
painting has a long term of apprenticeship to go through 
to obtain an acquaintance with the paraphernalia of his 
art : the science of optics is called in to aid him in the 
admixture of his colours, the mathematics to assist him 
in drawing perspectively ; models, and masters, and in- 
structions, are not wanting to complete his information 
on every point ; and all this to gratify a mere taste, and 
to cultivate a very laudable, hut insubstantial pursuit ; 
while the teacher, the great moral painter, whose works 
must all endure for eternity, for better or for worse, has 
yet but scanty opportunities afforded him of arriving at 
anything like perfection in his art. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

Not half a century has yet elapsed since an idea was 
very generally entertained in this country, that anything 
like an intellectual education for the humbler classes was 
a matter of very doubtful propriety. A monopoly of the 
higher fruits of intellect, as well as of power, was con- 
fined to the aristocracy ; and, as knowledge is power, an 
exclusive possession of the one was equivalent to a 
retention of the other. It was not, therefore, to be ex- 
pected that those in authority should have any strong 
desire to diffuse knowledge among the people. But it 
poured in upon them from other sources, and, instead of 
passing downwards to the lower classes, improved me- 
thods of education, like most other moral improvements, 
first took root among them, and are every day bearing 
fruit upwards. When the delusive excitement under 
which all classes laboured during the Napoleon wars, had 
passed away with the return of peace, the light of truth 
and the love of freedom pervaded the minds of the peo- 
ple, and led them to regard themselves as something 
higher in the scale of creation than the mere automata of 
a government. A spirit of moral and religious inquiry 
was also excited, and more enlarged views of the relative 
duties between man and man were elicited. In conse- 
quence of this a desire for knowledge increased, and led 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 97 

the people to suggest modes not only of improving them- 
selves, but of moralising and enlightening the neglected 
poor around them. And in the van of this heaven- 
directed movement, as in all others of any real value, 
the banner of religion is found unfurled. It was a sense 
of the moral destitution of the children of the poorer 
classes, that induced Mr. Eaikes of Gloucester, Mr. Fox 
of London, and other founders of Sunday-schools, to 
give the first impulse to that benevolent movement. 
But their early attempts only served to show the vast- 
ness of the work they had undertaken. A mass of 
ignorance was found to pervade the lower orders, that 
even the rapid spread of Sunday-schools was utterly 
unable to remove, or to reach. Enough was done, 
however, to draw down upon the originators of these 
schools the ire of interested parties. But the more they 
were persecuted the more the good work flourished ; and 
a foundation of morality being thus laid, a more intellec- 
tual edifice arose in the erection of increased numbers of 
day-schools, and improved modes of instruction. To the 
formation of Sunday-schools, therefore, may be traced a 
second revival of letters in this country, and a new intel- 
lectual era, even as to the Reformation we are indebted for 
the first, and a new religious epoch. And not unlike the 
Eeformation in another point, was the persecution these 
schools sustained at the hands of those opposed to them. 
The two most prominent names in connexion with 
popular education, are those of Joseph Lancaster and 
Dr. Andrew Bell. The former, a member of the society 
of Friends, and the son of a private soldier, moved by a 
benevolent feeling towards the neglected children around 
his father's dwelling in the Borough Road, Southwark, 
opened a school, and fitted it up at his own cost, and 
mostly with his own hands, in which he ^assembled about 



98 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

ninety children. This was in 1798, a period of public 
distress as well as of public ignorance ; and as necessity 
is said to be the mother of invention, in this instance a 
remarkable invention was certainly the result. He found 
it impossible to give all his attention to the crowds of 
children who came in upon him, and he was too poor to 
hire the assistance of others ; when perhaps some ideas of 
the " marshalled host" received from his father, suggested 
the famous monitorial plan, afterwards identified with 
his name and system of teaching. Soon after this, he 
attracted the attention of the Duke of Bedford ; and in 
1805 he had an audience with George the Third, who on 
that occasion uttered the memorable words, " I wish that 
every poor child in my dominions may be able to read the 
Bible." 

From 1807 to 1811, it is said, Lancaster travelled over 
the kingdom well nigh 7000 miles, and lectured to nearly 
50,000 persons; and the result of his labours are the 
very many Lancasterian or British Schools, now esta- 
blished throughout the country, and the central institu- 
tion of the British and Foreign School Society, which 
unites and aids them all. 

Almost contemporaneously with this effort of Lancas- 
ter, (the priority of which, indeed, has been disputed,) and 
by way of honourable retaliation, a parallel movement was 
set on foot, and a convenient organ for the purpose was 
found in Dr. Bell and the Madras system. Hence arose the 
National School Society. But such an institution cannot 
with accuracy be called national any more than the former. 
It is simply, as every one knows, a well-intentioned 
scheme to teach the doctrines of religion and morality, 
with a sprinkling of secular instruction to children 
belonging to the church. This society, however, 
though it can never be commensurate with the wants 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 99 

of the country, has also effected, within its own sphere, a 
vast good. 

The British and Foreign School Society, and the 
National Society, are therefore the only regularly organ- 
ised schemes for conducting the popular education of the 
country ; hut unfortunately they are inherently of so dis- 
similar a character as to preclude all hopes of their ever 
acting in concert for one ohject. 

Another and a novel feature of modern education, is 
the more recent formation of Infant Schools. These 
seem to derive their origin from the Pastor Oherlin, who 
appointed teachers in each commune of the Ban de la 
Roche, and paid them at his own expense. He also pro- 
cured rooms where children from two to six years of age 
might he instructed and amused. It is to the honour of 
Mr. Robert Owen, that, with all his errors, he was the 
first Englishman to establish an Infant School in this 
country. Lord Brougham also devoted much of his 
influence and talents in forwarding the same cause ; and 
Mr. Wilderspin has laboured more than any other, in 
advocating and founding such establishments. Mr. Wil- 
derspin, however, claims too much credit for his improve- 
ments in these schools ; for, like many other inventors, he 
has simply introduced old ideas under new names. As 
an instance of this, he lays claim to the invention of the 
arithmetic on, an instrument consisting of a number of 
balls in a frame of wire, for teaching children to count. 
This instrument was described in a work on arithmetic 
by Mr. Friend some sixty years ago, and is, in fact, the 
same in principle as the ahacus of the Romans. 

To no one, however, is the cause of early education 
more indebted for an impulsive movement, than to the 
amiable but melancholy Swiss, Henry Pestalozzi. In 
his case, too, as in that of Joseph Lancaster,, necessity, 

F 2 



100 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

that stern instructress, prompted many of his best plans. 
He was born at Zurich, in 1745, of poor but respectable 
parents. A deep dissatisfaction with existing modes of 
education gave a stimulus to his inquiries ; and being 
himself much a disciple of nature, he reduced his own 
experience to practice, in the work of instructing others. 
Having selected about fifty pupils from the very dregs of 
society, he formed his own house into what might rather 
be called au asylum than a school, in which these chil- 
dren were provided with food, clothing, and instruction. 
His object was national, and he desired to show the 
State how the poor might educate themselves. His 
plans, however, were defeated ; but the beneficial results 
of his experience are still before the world; and his 
method of oral instead of book instruction, of realities 
instead of signs, will form part of every enlightened sys- 
tem of instruction while the world stands. 

Since the days of these pioneers in the cause of popular 
instruction, and by the improvements of others upon 
their suggestions, light has been streaming in from many 
sources ; and philosophic minds have bent to the task 
of methodising those principles, and reducing them into 
the tangible form of a science. But while enlightened 
modes have been thus elicited, and an apparatus formed 
so adequate for raising the tone of morals and intelli- 
gence through the country, a vast hiatus yet remains to 
be filled up, in the practical application of these means 
to the wants of the community. The best instruction is 
to be had ; but the people have it not. The sun shines 
high in the heavens, but darkness broods over the earth ; 
and the fountains of knowledge are pouring abroad their 
waters, but the land mourneth and is desolate. 

If the conviction, even at the present day, were uni- 
versal, that the poorer classes ought to be educated, this 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 101 

anomaly, of course, would gradually disappear. But 
this is far from being the case. Three classes of opinions, 
or rather of feelings, seem to pervade the public mind on 
this point. There is a large, and it is hoped, an increas- 
ing body, who wish to educate the people for the people's 
own advantage ; aware that there is no evil that may not 
be dreaded from a state of ignorance, and no real good 
that may not be expected from an enlightened commu- 
nity. Another party proceed to the work of educating 
the poor by compulsion rather than choice, and who 
would do nothing of the sort, if without some such effort 
they could equally retain their station and social influ- 
ence. And a third party, more honest indeed, but still 
less benevolent, openly decry every attempt to educate 
the humbler classes. The existence of this party is no 
chimera. " It is impossible," says the assistant poor-law 
commissioner, Edward Twisleton, Esq.; in a late report, 
" to shut one's eyes to the fact, that a certain portion of 
the upper and middling classes harbour a rooted distrust 

of any plan for the education of the poor Amongst 

many small farmers, and some of the gentry, unwilling- 
ness to educate the poor is ppenly defended by argument ; 
and a merchant of a sea-port town gravely assured me, 
not long ago, that an agricultural labourer was very little 
above a brute, and that to educate him would merely 
have the effect of rendering him dissatisfied with his 
situation in life." While such a diversity of feeling and 
opinion exists, therefore, it is plain no united universal 
effort can be expected, either of a national or social 
nature, sufficient to meet the exigencies of the whole 
case. That it may tend, in some small degree, to har- 
monise these conflicting opinions, by disseminating more 
widely clear views of what education really is, is a princi- 
pal end the writer has had in view in committing to paper 



102 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the preceding and following remarks. It is as necessary to 
have an acquaintance with the remedy as the disease ; 
and before a uniformity of opinion can be obtained 
regarding certain modes of educating the people, the 
principle at issue must be analysed and understood. 

There are now several Normal Schools in the country. 
The Glasgow Normal Seminary; the General Assembly's 
Normal School at Edinburgh, or Sessional School ; the 
British and Foreign School Society's Model and Nor- 
mal School, Borough-road, Southwark; the National 
Society's Central Model School, Westminster ; the Train- 
ing School, at Battersea, with others. But before pro- 
ceeding to say a word or two regarding these, I would 
beg to call attention for a moment to what must 
surely have struck many as a remarkable feature in the 
case. If the object of a Normal School be to set up a 
standard for a correct mode of teaching and inculcating 
scientific principles, regarding the best means of govern- 
ing the minds and habits of the young, such institutions 
must be necessary for all classes of society, the rich as 
well as the poor. Human nature is the same in all 
ranks of life ; and the right government of the intellect, 
and morals, and physics of our common nature, all de- 
pends upon the application of the same right principles. 
But these and all other model schools in the country are 
designed as nurseries for teachers to the poorer classes of 
society only ; no similar institution has yet arisen to 
train masters for the higher schools, and tutors to the 
families of the rich. Connected with the Glasgow Nor- 
mal School, indeed, a "private seminary" was instituted 
some years ago, to which from the highness of the fees 
children of the wealthier classes only were eligible, and 
this formed a sort of model school, in which the higher 
branches were taught upon the same great principles that 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 103 

were in operation in the public schools. But even this 
was given up, or merged into a preparatory collegiate 
school having no connexion with the public Normal 
Institution, except occupying one or two of the halls of 
the building. At first sight, one should say, the cause 
of this was, that no such institutions were needed for 
supplying the superior schools with masters ; otherwise, 
as a lack of means to support them could not be urged, 
they would have been in existence. A conclusion is 
here drawn, however, from only one premiss, for although 
they are not in existence, it may be easily proved that 
they are much needed. If teaching be an art, and a 
difficult one, — and few will deny this, — it must also be 
granted, that, like every other art, it can only be acquired 
by practice. But where do our higher teachers and 
tutors acquire the practice of this art ? Certainly not at 
Oxford and Cambridge I or any other inferior college or 
school throughout the country ; and it has already been 
shown that the mere reading about educational systems, 
or seeing them in operation, is practically useless. The 
only conclusion must, therefore, be, that whatever art 
such instructors attain must be self- acquired, and that, 
too, at the expense of the moral and intellectual havoc of 
those juvenile minds upon which they first begin to 
operate and experiment. Of course, as any person of 
ordinary intelligence may teach himself an art, and 
acquire a greater or less degree of dexterity in it, according 
to his natural abilities and application ; so may any one 
gain an aptitude for teaching, and the moral governance 
of children, without attending a Normal School. But he 
cannot do this without first experimenting upon children, 
and without the children being mentally and morally the 
worse for such a process. It might as well be expected 
that an artist, on his first attempt to paint, would pro- 



104 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

duce a correct picture, and never spoil a sheet of paper 
in his life. The mind of a child, in this respect at least, is 
a tabula rasa, and the blemishes first made upon it by 
the experimenting teacher are just about as indelible as 
the misapplied colouring on the material of the painter. 
It might rather, perhaps, be called a photogenic process, 
in which similar surfaces presented to the same object 
under different influences, will carry off very different 
impressions of that object. A teacher, in the case sup- 
posed, is the archetype from whom the impression pro- 
ceeds ; but it depends not a little upon the nature of the 
medium through which that impression passes, whether a 
correct likeness or a caricature may be formed, and, con- 
sequently, whether the receiving material be improved or 
damaged. 

But though the human mind is a recipient of im- 
pressions — and indeed the very terms denoting its capa- 
city of thus submitting to foreign influences are scarcely 
metaphorical — it is not always, like wax, to retain fac- 
similes of them. The perceptive faculties may be 
morbidly sensitive or callously obtuse, or ranging any- 
where between an extreme quickness and impenetrability 
of apprehension. In the former instance, an active 
fancy will not only catch up its ideas at once, but 
throwing around them certain embellishments of its 
own, give to the judgment more than the original 
thoughts of a teacher. Or his language, the medium 
through which the ideas pass, may be too dazzling for 
the mind's eye, thus impressing upon it an equally ex- 
aggerated picture. The mental vision, through the too 
much light of fancy, will be dazzled and the judgment 
darkened. In both cases, there may be a union of the 
real with the ideal ; some truth and some fiction : there 
may even be a beautiful picture, but no true likeness; and. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 105 

to form correct impressions, the whole must either be 
rubbed out or chastened down. 

It is not difficult, therefore, to see that the mental 
fabric is itself injured in the process. If clear and just 
conceptions on any subject be not obtained, the judg- 
ment will draw erroneous conclusions, and, as from 
these, other opinions will be arrived at equally fantastic, 
like the bend given to a sapling, this tortuous mode 
of judging in infancy may, if persevered in, be confirmed 
into a fatal habit in mature years. The imagination 
will, in this case, be overtrained, and reason left to grope 
its way into light through the mists of a romantic 
speculation. Much easier it is to captivate the fancy 
than to educate the judgment. The former is generally 
lively and the latter inert. An exuberance of apprehen- 
sion must therefore frequently be curtailed, and many 
loose conjectures set aside before a direct appeal be made 
to reason. The mind must be denuded of this glittering- 
tinsel, and an exposed surface presented to catch the 
rays of truth so as to fix down a true impression. 

. Or, on the other hand, there may be an obtuseness of 
perception, requiring all the light and colouring of fancy 
to portray the simplest idea. An artificial surface must 
then be prepared to quicken the mind's perception so as 
to retain an impression long enough to sink into the 
understanding. On such a material, even the broad 
outlines of a picture can with difficulty be drawn. Its 
colouring must be stronger than nature, and its dimen- 
sions exaggerated before it can be perceived. The fancy 
must be enlightened by the contemplation of some 
analogous and kindred idea, a reflection of which 
may illustrate the darker shades of the picture and 
impress the understanding itself. And if it be thus 
difficult to delineate a rude sketch from nature, how 
f 3 



106 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

much more art and skill are necessary not only to 
fill up and give a prominence to the same picture, 
but to depict the minuter shades and details of an 
image whose archetype is a mere ens rationis — a creation 
of the mind ! If, in its absence, it be difficult to describe 
the size, form, arid proportions of the commonest visible 
object, how much more so to explain, not only its con- 
crete qualities and uses, but these abstractedly, and even 
compound ideas and reflections from them ! Simple and 
concrete terms must be used, and the description worked 
into the mind by reiterated efforts to impress an idea of 
the bare object; while its qualities and reflections, like 
the perspective and fore -shortening of a print, must be 
measured and compared with those of other visible objects 
or known ideas to be apprehended. On such a mind, a 
knowledge of the uses of many objects can only be 
impressed by seeing them used, and of their qualities by 
the other external senses, while it is almost entirely in- 
capable of being brightened up to anything deserving 
the name of reflection. The fabric receives no polish, 
but presents a dull hard surface to the moral painter, 
often defying all his efforts to imprint a mere outline. 

Yet, impenetrable as it may be to receive just and 
entire impressions, it is not so to admit erroneous and 
partial views. If a whole picture is not drawn, some 
members and lineaments of it may be : and the mind 
filled with these unfinished fragments can only resemble 
the pages of some initiatory lesson book in drawing. 
If the mind cannot embrace general views, it conceives 
limited and distorted notions ; and as the judgment will 
form conclusions from any premises, from such partial 
data, delusive reflections and opinions only can arise, 
thus multiplying the errors without training the powers 
of reason. Nature without is misrepresented within ; — 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 107 

the impressions have either passed through a false 
medium, or the surface has not been properly adapted 
to receive them, and it had almost been better that no 
artistic delineation had been thus attempted. A con- 
crete mind, like the latter, should be as naturally educated; 
otherwise, like a forced plant, it will only bring forth a 
spurious fruit. A quick intellect, like the former, should 
almost be permitted to grow by itself, or even retarded, 
else the excess of its inherent fecundity may consume its 
own vitality. The precocity of the mind may exhaust 
the functions of the body. 

Let no one think this is a wire- drawing of the matter, 
figurative though it be. Few parents, even with all 
their anxiety, calculate aright the immense influence, for 
good or for evil, that a teacher exercises over his pupil. 
The child's mental and moral character insensibly assimi- 
late to those of his preceptor ; for the mere power of 
imitation would impress upon the child a corresponding- 
character to his tutor's, were no attempt made by a single 
precept to fashion that character. Whatever might be 
the model, so, in general, would be the copy, for such is 
the process of nature. But when a wrongly- directed 
artificial course of preceptive discipline intervenes, the 
natural character of the tutor is veiled, and a similar 
artificial covering thrown around that of the pupil. It is 
not a transcript of the former's own thoughts and feel- 
ings which is communicated, but certain abstractions of 
moral science appealing to the understanding ; and the 
conduct of the latter is too apt to be the offspring of the 
mere forms and framework of morality, rather than the 
warm but well-regulated impulses of the heart. A picture 
is copied rather than the living original. So that, after 
all, the great and difficult art in the business of education 
is simply to become artless , and to return to nature. 



108 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

But it may be asked, Of what use, then, is a normal 
school — an institution professedly for the purpose of 
inculcating the principles of an art in training ? I reply, 
that to return to nature, even in our own actions, requires 
some art, therefore more is required to guide the actions 
of others naturally. It is often an effort of art to become 
natural in manners — how much more so in morals ! There 
must be an acquaintance with the powers of the infant 
mind to prepare them for the reception of impressions, and 
the skill of art to make these impressions natural. How 
many of the laws of nature have been undiscovered, and, 
so far as man is concerned, useless, until science developed 
and art applied them ! The art of living well is to live in 
harmony with the laws of nature ; but these laws must 
themselves first be ascertained before the art of obey- 
ing them can be prescribed. The point is, first to dis- 
cover what nature teaches, and to teach accordingly. 
She furnishes the science of education, and man deduces 
thence its art. But though art arises thus out of 
nature, it is no less its province to guide and assist 
her developments upon principles entirely artificial. 
The daguerreotype is an artifice to make nature de- 
lineate herself; but a knowledge of her laws regarding 
the properties of light and certain chemical ingredients 
was first given by nature, and merely guided into action 
by art. Painting is art imitating nature ; but photo- 
graphy is nature artificialised : and according to the degree 
of knowledge she communicates to art as her guide, will 
be the perfection of her delineations. There is nothing 
natural in artistic painting, of which it is the highest praise 
to say it has produced an exact resemblance of nature. A 
photogenic picture is an emanation from nature herself. 
It is, therefore, the perfection of art to return to nature, 
and guide rather than imitate her manifestations. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 109 

In like manner the art of training is a natural 
art. It is not so much an imitation of nature without, 
as a guiding and development of nature within. Mental 
instruction is a process of copying external nature ; but 
mental training is the art of producing original pictures ; 
creating a beau-ideal of nature. Moral instruction is 
the art of exhibiting conduct pictured out in precepts, 
or examples ; but moral training is the art of guiding 
and unfolding the natural conduct itself. Teaching is the 
streaming in of light upon the mind, and filling it with 
natural images ; but training is a preparing of the mind 
and placing it in harmony with external objects to enable 
it to retain and recombine these images. As, therefore, 
it is necessary to understand and practise the principles 
of photography to produce correct natural pictures, so is 
it in training, to train naturally. 

A normal school, then, is a moral daguerreotype, an 
apparatus for concentrating the scattered rays of know- 
ledge, regarding the natural and moral laws, and bringing 
them to bear upon the actual purposes of life. The 
science of education consists in a knowledge of these 
laws ; and its art, in practising the best modes of render- 
ing them efficacious in developing the faculties of a human 
being. The alumni of such a seminary are, therefore, 
the students and the artists of nature ; and it is only 
those who approximate to this standard of simplicity that 
are in proportion qualified to be trusted with the educa- 
tion of any one, rich or poor. It is no uncommon thing 
to hear of the poet, the painter, or the sculptor of nature, 
and such epithets entitle them to rank among the highest 
of the profession ; and if it be difficult for them to descend 
to this simplicity, it is equally so for the teacher* and 
equally does he excel in his art who is able to do so. I 
say descend, for it is a descent, though it places the 



110 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

artist, or the teacher, himself on a high eminence above 
his competitors ; and before any one asserts that it is an 
easy matter to be natural in teaching, let him reflect what 
is meant by the term. Let him think of the difference, 
in this respect, there is between the man and the boy. 
What a highly abstractive atmosphere the former lives 
continually amidst, while the latter is only emerging from 
the -darkness of chaotic materialism! With the one, 
names and ideas, thoughts and fancies, are often more 
prominent than substantial objects ; conventional customs 
and social forms more powerful than natural feelings, 
and manners more important than morals. An artificial 
character has in a manner become natural to him ; and it 
is something unnatural to divest himself of it, and return 
to the concretions and substantialities of nature, but 
which he must do before he put himself on a level with 
the boy. 

Now, a knowledge of such principles, with many others, 
or at least skill in practising them, should be consi- 
dered indispensable in any one who emerges from a nor- 
mal seminary to teach the very poorest classes of children. 
But for such a course of training those who are to manage 
the education of noblemen and gentlemen's sons and 
daughters, no provision is made at all. If a scion of one 
of these families falls sick, the parent calls in the skilful 
and trained physician, whose reputation has been acquired 
by a long course of study and practice, having for their 
object the chemistry of nature in its relation to the 
human irame. He does not employ the mere chemist, 
eminent though he be in simples and compounds, analyses 
and syntheses. It is the medical practitioner, not the 
chemical philosopher, that he knows is best acquainted 
with the healing art. But when he wants a tutor for the 
same son, he applies to Oxford or Cambridge,, and inquires 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. Ill 

of the Eegius Professor, who last carried the highest 
honours of his college. If he is a Bachelor or Master of 
Arts, such is reckoned a sufficient qualification to enable 
him to discharge the duties of a tutorship. Yet though his 
mind may he fiHed with all the lore of antiquity, and all 
the science of modern times, he is not on that account one 
whit the better qualified for the task to which he has been 
selected. Nay, more, the high eminence he has gained 
is only a collateral proof that he is less qualified. His 
own mind, amid the complexities of mathematics, and the 
subtleties of logic, must be drawn far away from the 
simplicity necessary to communicate elementary know- 
ledge to young children, and the distance vast indeed, 
between his own and the unsophisticated mind of the 
pupil upon whom he has been chosen thus to experiment. 
To such a person, indeed, the monotonous drudgery of 
teaching the mere elements of knowledge is often painful 
in the extreme. Having no specific knowledge of any 
art in training, he wants the poiver necessary to break 
down his own acquirements, and turn them to account in 
educating children. The labour may be immense, but 
the result fruitless. He may exhaust his own energy arid 
patience, but the task be still unperformed. He has to 
wade through the depths of his own learning before he 
effects a landing on common ground with his pupil. He 
forgets the rude condition of the boy's mind, and appeals 
to it in terms as unintelligible as the ideas he is attempt- 
ing to explain; and as he can perceive no progress on the 
part of his pupil, he most probably will relapse into a 
state of careless indifference regarding his work altogether, 
ascribing his ill success to the stupidity of his charge, or 
to anything but a want of method in himself. Besides, 
as the duties of a tutorship are so often undertaken by 
collegians from hard necessity, or the hone of gaining 



112 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

patronage, they must be but superficially performed. It 
is made a stepping-stone to something better, and, like a 
stepping-stone, its duties are trampled upon, while the 
mind is busily engaged in quest of obtaining a higher 
and more eligible position in society. They are per- 
formed rather to please the patron than to benefit the 
pupil, whose temper and disposition are much less studied 
than the whims and caprices of the former, or, if studied, 
it may only be as a means of gaining an ascendency over 
the mind of the parent. 

The same erroneous principle which is here spoken of 
guides the selection of masters for all public schools of 
the better classes. It is the talent of the individual that 
procures him the situation. If a Latin or Greek master 
be wanted to teach the mere elements of these languages 
in a grammar school, the profound scholar is fixed upon, 
he whose memory is best stored with the customs, laws, 
and manners of ancient Greece and Rome, the history 
of their battles and conquests, their superstitions and 
mythologies, and who can himself best translate and write 
their beautiful but dead languages. The amount of his 
own abstract knowledge in ancient literature is taken as 
a proof of his skill in communicating its elements, and 
the length of time taken to acquire this knowledge held 
as a guarantee of his fitness for an art to which he 
has devoted no time. Or, if a mathematical master be 
required, the fortunate student at Cambridge is the 
successful candidate. It is seldom suspected that his 
high qualities will scarcely ever be needed in the situation 
he is to fill. His aptitude for imparting knowledge is 
seldom taken into account, or thought of only as a 
secondary matter. Now, such qualifications may indeed 
render him eligible as a professor, where less art is neces- 
sary in teaching, because he would have to operate upon 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 113 

more matured intellects; but for elementary and juvenile 
grammar and other schools, the mere attainments of the 
master are secondary pre-requisites. If he is a person of 
the most ordinary attainments, and able to communi-, 
cate all he knows, he is a most successful teacher indeed. 
The successful prize-taker at Oxford, or senior wrangler at 
Cambridge, would never, in all probability, communicate 
half so much.- The abstruse mind of a, deep student can 
have but little sympathy with the intellectual weaknesses 
of ordinary humanity, much less with the wayward dispo- 
sitions and eccentric freaks of light-hearted children. Let 
any one read Sir W. Scott's "Dominie Sampson," and he 
will there see no overdrawn picture of a specimen of this 
class. It is evident, that, with all that individual's kind 
and affectionate manner, his profound learning, and how- 
ever much Lucy Bertram excelled in the " tongues," and 
her lost brother might also have done, the chasm was no 
less " prodigious" between his own abstract and absent in- 
tellect and the mind of his pupils, than his unwieldy body 
was greater than theirs. And Sir W. Scott's example 
and memorable opinion, in the selection of a governess 
for his own daughters, is a much better testimony still. 
A young lady " whose temper and disposition" would be 
in harmony with the children's, were supreme qualifica- 
tions in his estimation. He cared little about what were 
usually called "attainments." 

But the strangest part of the anomaly is, that, from 
these qualifications alone, coupled with a certain degree 
of clerical rank, is a tutor often selected to teach the 
mere rudiments of English, — an example of which, if it 
be not a merely nominal appointment, was lately given 
to the world in the choice of a preceptor for a pupil of 
the highest rank in the country. For such a charge, it 
certainly was not talent but tact that was wanted ; not 



114 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

deep learning, but facility in communicating its elements ; 
not dignity, but playfulness of manner; not the precepts, 
but the guidance of morality. A man near sixty, how- 
ever learned and amiable, can have but little sympathy, 
either mentally or morally, with a child not six, the 
formation of whose character will therefore be left virtually 
to the nursery governesses around him, and the menials 
who tend his physical wants. However well his manners 
may be regulated by courtly etiquette, the early develop- 
ment of his moral faculties will be in the power of 
servants, and take place most rapidly under the guidance 
of those whose active duties are of a different kind. 
Before he can discern the difference in the form of his 
alphabetical characters, his own character will have 
assumed a more definite form in the eyes of others. His 
mental and moral education will then formally commence 
under the most competent instructors that can be had, 
but whose moral effect being partly eradicative, will be 
half useless. An undoing of much must take place, 
before anything can be done. The best of precepts, and 
most illustrious of examples, will be exhibited for imita- 
tion, but if any contrary tendency may have been deve- 
loped by previous nursery treatment, these will fail entirely 
to correct it. It ,may be softened by the breath of love, 
and moulded in a different direction by the most assiduous 
care, but the elasticity of the habit will cause it ever to 
return, and though modified, will retain a place in his 
nature, until the sceptre drop from his hands. 

It is true, neither the political nor moral destinies of 
the country depend upon the chance character that may 
thus be formed. Fortified by a bulwark of laws and 
liberty, the British constitution is not dependent upon 
the caprice of a sovereign's will, but of how much moral 
influence is that will the source ! and in the disposition 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 115 

and character now forming in the future sovereign of 
these realms, may already have been implanted, much that 
may ultimately retard or advance the social happiness and 
prosperity of his empire. A king is the fountain of 
honour to all his subjects. How necessary, then, to 
cleanse and prepare the first springs which compose that 
fountain, that it may flow forth from the bosom of na- 
ture pure and unadulterated ! He gives a tone not only 
to the manners, but the morals of those around him 
which often vibrates to the lowest depths of society, 
and if struck in unison with the pure morals of nature, 
will be caught up and re-echoed universally ; but if pitched 
upon no higher key than a mere political morality, can 
only awaken a hollow response in the adamant breast of 
an interested faction. 

While, therefore, such means are now at command for 
moulding and bringing to perfection the character of 
our young prince, and so much depending upon the 
result, it is to be hoped that no prejudice will stand in 
the way of bringing to the task all the light that science 
has evolved, and art can practise, in conducting Iris edu- 
cation. No want of sympathy would exist between 
the prince and the peasant, the ruler and the ruled, if 
all were alike the subjects of a moral government. On 
this, as a basis, should rest the education of every 
individual, as well as the laws, institutions, and govern- 
ment of every country. 

In the selection of governesses, a similar error prevails 
in judging of their qualifications. Among the higher 
ranks, it is generally young ladies belonging to decayed 
families that are preferred. So far, therefore, as forming 
the manners of the pupil is concerned, this will afford a 
pretty sure guarantee of their fitness. Adversity often 
improves the manners, as well as refines the character of 



116 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

its victims. Its cold breath may chill the more ardent 
aspirations of the mind, and strip off many of the mere 
blossoms of outward accomplishment, but it as often 
leaves behind the richer fruits of virtue and true refine- 
ment of soul. As, therefore, gentleness of manner and 
disposition is indispensable in the governess to educe 
kindred qualities in the pupil, a young lady whose birth 
has given her an opportunity of mixing with the 
aristocracy, has been under a good system of training 
for her task. Her general accomplishments, too, may 
almost be taken for granted. And, indeed, the female 
character is naturally more refined than that of the 
opposite sex; and, if ordinarily educated, any young 
woman takes more readily to the duties of instruction, 
than a man. She has a closer sympathy with the 
feelings and dispositions of children, naturally gliding 
into their little ways, and leading them by the soft cords 
of affection, more than the stern airs of command. Less, 
therefore, of art may be necessary to fit a female teacher 
for her duties, so far as moral training is concerned. 
But this very softness and pliability in herself, render- 
ing her own character a fitter mould for that of her 
pupil, requires on that account more mental enlighten- 
ment to guide the impression. Her patience and better 
temper may proceed from less mental acumen, and if 
they form a better disposition in the pupil, it may be 
at the expense of a vast want of mental development. 

What, therefore, is most needed in this case, is an 
improved system of mental training for herself, and a 
higher tone of female education generally. What are 
called the " accomplishments," consist principally of 
drawing, music, and one or two foreign languages, all 
of which, as branches of study, are well enough adapted 
to the female character. But much more than accom- 



FHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 117 

plislrment is required in woman. She has a " reasonable 
soul," whose wants cannot be satisfied by the gratification 
of mere taste : more than the desires of the palate must 
be studied in administering to the wants of the body ; 
the food must be digestive and nutritious, to communi- 
cate vigour to the frame, and the perceptive faculties of 
the mind must imbibe not only ideas of beauty, but of 
truth, that the judgment may digest an aliment suited to 
its spiritual wants. Instead of the melody of sweet 
sound, it desires the harmony of sense ; instead of a 
delicate ear, a correct understanding ; instead of the fair 
proportions and beautiful colouring of objects, it desires 
to examine their structures, properties and uses, and 
instead of the mere words of a foreign language, to 
investigate the history and morals of those who speak 
it. There is a power in the female mind of pene- 
trating far beneath the mere surface of nature, and 
a strong desire to do so, beautiful though the sur- 
face may appear. It need not quite desert the realms 
of fancy, for an occasional sojourn in the domains of 
reason. The former may be its native province, but 
the latter, though a foreign possession, is equally its 
own, and a much richer inheritance. It need not 
cease contemplating the beauties of the flower garden, 
though it sometimes cull the fruits of the orchard. Nei- 
ther is the imagination weakened, but strengthened, by 
an improvement of the understanding. Unless reason, 
indeed, guide its erratic propensities, a false taste is 
engendered, and foolish notions entertained. As the health 
of the constitution is the best foundation of external 
handsomeness, so is the soundness of the judgment an 
equally sure guarantee for the beauty and justness of 
the fancy. 

Neither would her affections be diminished, but in- 



118 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

creased from the same cause. There is a class of feelings 
unknown to instinct, and the pure offspring of intelli- 
gence. A savage mother may regard her child with a 
passion as intense as a civilised parent; in all the 
animalism of his nature, may rejoice to see him grow up 
in strength and "beauty, and excel in feats of bodily skill ; 
but how inferior is it to that affection which delights to 
perceive the unfolding of his mental and moral nature ! 
Without reason, a mother's affection is mere instinct, and 
in proportion to the cultivation of the one, does the other 
rise above it. Apart, therefore, from the education of 
circumstances, it depends upon the manifestation of this 
feeling whether the child grows up in a state of barbarism, 
or civilisation, or a being possessing the mingled nature 
of both. How imperative is it, therefore, that female 
education should be established upon the principles of 
reason and nature — that the useful should precede the 
ornamental, and the rational the imaginative ! But in 
the tyrant laws that govern society, there must too often 
be a sacrifice of mental research to mere accomplishment, 
of feeling to artifice, and of substance to shadow ; so that 
an education in accordance with these conventionalities is 
not so much art developing nature, as a thing entirely 
artificial. 

So little, therefore, of pure nature being required in 
conducting such an education, the most amiable and 
intellectual governess is not on that account always the 
best adapted for the charge. The parent wants her 
daughter to be a fine musician, a fine drawer, to dress 
and dance well, to have finished manners, and a fashion- 
able speech, whatever be her natural genius for any of 
these acquirements — in a word, not only to be artificially 
accomplished, but superficially educated. An outward 
display must be made, at whatever inward sacrifice; and as 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 119 

no power on earth can create genius or taste where it is 
not, the governess fails to satisfy, and is dismissed. Or 
the parent's unguided affection in the early years of 
her child may have induced a disposition as unsuited to 
the moral guidance of a governess, as its natural in- 
aptitude for the accomplishments. In either case, whe- 
ther it he the omnipotence of custom that demands 
compliance with its laws at whatever cost of nature, or 
that unreasoning instinct that leads a parent so often to 
take the part of her child, against the necessary restraint 
of the governess, the latter is placed in a false and 
hopeless position. 

This, indeed, is only one of a thousand causes, that 
operate unfavourably between these parties. My present 
object in stating it is to show the much greater necessity 
that exists for improving the character of female educa- 
tion, than that of the female educator ; that it is not so 
much a fault of that meek and gentle class of beings who 
from hard necessity conduct it upon erroneous principles, 
as in society tolerating the principles themselves. The 
dawn of a brighter day, however, has here also sprung up, 
and several institutions are now opening throughout the 
country for raising the tone of female education. Much 
they were wanted, and much success may they have. It 
must therefore be a pleasure to every one to read the 
prospectuses of such seminaries as those in Glasgow, 
Edinburgh, and London, for educating females upon a 
principle that nature herself has taught, and for teaching 
the art of communicating these principles to others. 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the whole, therefore, the rich seem much in the 
rear of improvement in having no fixed principles to 
guide them in selecting instructors for their children, 
and a vast field of usefulness is here presented to them 
in establishing institutions for the purpose of qualifying 
such instructors. A want of this kind is indeed hut a 
modern desideratum, which time will doubtless supply. 
It has arisen out of an advanced state of civilisation and 
intelligence, but affords a suitable fulcrum for an Archime- 
dean power in still further developing the universal mind. 

The rise of all the professions — the army, the church, 
the bar, commerce, literature, and the press — in a similar 
manner, may be traced to the different wants of society at 
different periods of the world : each marking a distinct era 
in the moral history of our race. Like the forming 
habits of an individual, the separate principles that com- 
pose these professions were long in being consolidated 
into a system, so as to guide the universal conduct. But, 
when formed, society naturally falls back upon them as a 
bulwark of defence against the physical anarchy of nature. 
They are thus the breast- works of civilisation and refine- 
ment; but the march of intellect is aggressive in its object. 
It carries on an incessant war against the sensualism of 
nature, and though for a time it may entrench itself 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 121 

behind these barriers, it is ever ready to sally forth and 
raise a new encampment in the enemy's country. In 
such a crusade, too, it has more to encounter from the 
prejudices of half civilisation than the entire barbarism of 
nature. In the former case it has to fight its way 
through the mists of error before it can subdue the reason 
and will, while in the latter it has only to appeal to self- 
interest to carry the inclinations captive. Thus it is in 
a country such as this, so much under the influence of 
early habits, yet feeling the want of a higher state of 
social happiness, the pioneers who would go forth and 
establish the outworks of moral improvement, are not so 
much retarded by the difficulties of the undertaking 
without, as fettered by those within the time-hallowed 
precincts of custom. Within these circumscribed limits 
their operations must be confined, otherwise it matters 
little how beneficial they may be in themselves ; society 
will either reject the boon or callously wait until it is 
forced upon its acceptance. At all events, it gives little 
assistance in forwarding the work or encouraging the 
labourers who thus step out of the accustomed sphere to 
reap such benefit. Each of these must stand alone and 
brave the difficulties from without and the neglect from 
within, until he gains a footing for himself, and draws 
around him some equally- devoted spirits, whose united 
efforts give their position a commanding aspect. Then 
it is "that society gives a tardy acquiescence to their 
plans, and, finding the advantages they confer, at length 
supports them. 

Such is the case at the present day with regard to 
normal schools. Their abstract utility is pretty gene- 
rally acknowledged, and their want felt; but the habit of 
doing what has always been done is still too strong for 
the adoption of any new principles, however well founded 

G 



122 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

in reason and truth. Time, indeed, lias not yet been 
given fully to mature these principles, to establish their 
position as laws, whose existence can be traced through 
their effects upon society. It requires a stronger faith 
than the evidence of sight to admit them in practice. 
The individual understanding may acknowledge their 
necessity, but the national mind does not yet sufficiently 
feel it. The latter looks more to results, the former to 
causes. Yet a want of normal instruction, that is, of 
training nature in harmony with her own laws, is a social 
and natural want, and, in proportion as it comes to be 
felt, will society look about for the best means of satisfy- 
ing it. It will then be seen that something more than 
the innate qualifications of an individual are necessary 
in the training art — that though he may be able to teach 
himself the most abstruse sciences, he may be unable to 
communicate to others their simplest elements ; and, 
although his own moral conduct be unexceptionable, his 
ignorance of the laws upon which it depends may dis- 
qualify him for educing the same conduct in others. 
Nothing but tangible evidence, however, will satisfy the 
public mind on this point, and no better proof can be 
afforded than by adducing one or two parallel cases from 
the other professions. 

A young man intending to study as a surgeon, or a 
physician, enters college, and graduates, perhaps, in phi- 
losophy and literature ; but he is not, on that account, 
deemed the more eligible to practise surgery or medicine. 
He has a course of special training to go through. He 
has to attend hospitals and infirmaries, and to witness 
the experienced operator performing his manipulations ; 
by-and-by he puts to his own hand, and applies the knife 
under proper direction and guidance ; lectures, and 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 123 

"books, and subjects, and models, and diagrams, are all 
at his command ; and, after a proper time spent in such, 
training, he undergoes a strict examination regarding his 
theoretical and practical knowledge of the art he is about 
to profess, and, if qualified — as even some are found not 
to be, with all these opportunities — he receives his 
diploma, and becomes a surgeon or a physician. 

The student for the Church graduates in philosophy, 
but neither is he yet qualified for the pulpit. A special 
course of theological training also awaits him. His 
own character for piety must be attuned to the sacred 
work — his knowledge of church history considerable — 
his homilies display an acquaintance with the subjects of 
which they treat — his skill in biblical criticism acute— 
the style of his compositions adapted to the capacity of 
the ignorant as Well as the learned — and his usefulness 
and fitness thus guaranteed as far as human observation 
can reach. Preaching, however, is but another form of 
teaching ; and even here there is need of improvement, 
and many a divinity student has expressed the benefit he 
has derived in attending a normal school, to study the 
modes there taught of simplifying instruction, that he might 
adopt the same principle in levelling his discourse to the 
understanding of an audience. How many learned words 
and stereotyped phrases are used in the pulpit, which, to 
the majority of a congregation, are mere sound ! But, 
with exceptions, the routine of clerical study is artistic 
and special, and well fitted to train the novitiate for the 
practice of his holy calling. 

The lawyer has also a long term of special training to 
undergo. After studying the theory of his profession at 
college, he attends the chambers of a judicial pleader or 
conveyancer to benefit by his conversational lectures. 

g2 



124 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

Text books are referred to as records of general principles, 
which are illustrated by particular cases. The peculiarities 
of a certain deed or declaration, are pointed out in a model 
document, and at last the pupil is set to practise what he 
has learned by drawing up similar documents himself. 

The preparation for the bar is also special. It may 
be true, that the vast framework of statutes and pre- 
cedents which this profession has thrown around the 
maxims of natural justice, may occasionally prove an 
evil in individual cases, but, on the whole, it is necessary, 
as a bulwark of defence for life and property. It is 
therefore the intricacy of these statutory forms, that 
induces the necessity of a distinct profession, an at- 
tainment of skill in which involves the equal necessity 
of an intimate and practical acquaintance with its ma- 
chinery. It is not the knowledge, but the practice, 
of law that gives success to the practitioner. In con- 
ducting a prosecution for the matter of a few pounds' 
value, what an amount of technical art must often be 
brought to bear upon it ! To impress conviction being 
the principal object, an appeal to the understanding alone 
is studied, and in training for the profession, it is that 
faculty which is chiefly cultivated. The foundation of 
success must, therefore, be laid not only in a profound 
knowledge of abstract law, and a vast stock of general 
information, but in a certain power of laying hold of the 
most prominent facts and circumstances of a case, and 
combining these so as best to strike conviction into the 
minds of a jury. A counsel is thus also a teacher, 
and the jury his pupils. He instructs them in the merits 
of his client's case — lays before them certain points and 
landmarks to guide their minds in a particular direction, 
and then appeals to their judgment for a verdict in his 
favour. His opponent, however, endeavours to gain an 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 125 

opposite verdict, by leading their minds in a contrary 
direction, so that forensic pleading is a mental encounter, 
in which, in a doubtful case, victory generally inclines to 
the best reasoner. In special pleading, it may not, 
indeed, be always the great object to present an abstract 
truth in the clearest light, but the general intention of 
the profession is to elicit truth, and forward the ends 
of justice; to attain which important ends, equally 
important means are thus employed, and an arduous 
preparatory course of mental training is, therefore, indis- 
pensable. 

But it is not necessary to look so high for examples 
illustrating the principle of special training, as those taken 
from the learned professions. No mechanic or artisan, 
whose professional skill depends upon a mere manual 
dexterity, succeeds in his business unless he serves an ap- 
prenticeship to it. And the reason is/the formation of a 
technical habit is not a thing of intuition, but of action. 
It is not acquired by merely understanding how a thing 
is done, but by repeatedly doing it. There is a chasm 
between these two principles, that practice can alone fill 
up. The former is a mental impression, and the latter a 
material operation, proceeding from it by an act of 
volition. The mind is the teacher of the body, but the 
body is not always either an apt or an obedient pupil. It 
must frequently be shown how to do some things, before 
it can do them once properly ; but when once done they 
are more easily repeated, and when several times re- 
peated, the mind ceases altogether to instruct the body, 
which then performs the actions spontaneously.; A young 
girl, learning a tune on the piano, must first understand 
all the notes separately, and see where to plant each 
finger for each note ; but having repeatedly played the 
tune, her fingers mechanically fly over the keys, un- 



126 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

prompted by the mind, an emanation from which seems 
almost to become materialised among the nerves of her 
fingers. But if the nervous system that forms this link 
between the muscles and the mind, be imperfect or un- 
sound, the communication will be impeded. In this case, 
however enlightened and willing the mind may be to 
perform certain acts, these will be counteracted by a 
derangement of the appropriate nerves. That system 
must be in healthy unison with the faculties of the mind, 
and obedient to their impulse, before either a negative or 
positive habit can be formed, but when formed, that habit 
leads captive the mind itself. The reason of a drunkard 
may show him the danger of his vice, yet his nervous 
system responds not to the warning, but obeys the 
impulse of a previous habit. The hand of a paralytic 
man would equally refuse to be plucked from the fire, in 
obedience to his mere will, as that of a habitual drunkard 
to refuse the sparkling wine cup within its grasp. The 
muscles of the former, uncontrolled by the will within, 
obeys the law of gravitation without; and when the ner- 
vous system of the latter has been thus deteriorated, 
reason ceases to regulate his movements, which just as 
naturally gravitate towards the means of his own self- 
destruction, as the hand of the paralytic man. There is 
thus a sort of magnetism between the material organs of 
the human frame, and external objects, over which, when 
cemented by repeated contact, the intellect has but little 
control. It may, and often does, effect the union, but 
whether beneficial or not, it is too often powerless in 
attempting to undo its own work. 

There is also much of mechanism in this part of man's 
nature. In early life he is formed to certain habits — 
wound up to run a particular course at a certain speed, 
and however wrong he may afterwards discover that 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 127 

course to be, he cannot, without doing some violence to 
his nature, overcome the motal inertia, and take a dif- 
ferent direction. A carriage fitted for one line of road, 
must be taken off, and have its wheels refitted, to run in 
another of a different construction; and a man trained up 
in a certain course of conduct, is unable to get out of it 
without some external assistance, and cannot pursue a 
different line without an alteration of the moving springs 
of that conduct. Or the attraction of his material nature 
to a certain course must be overcome, as, however 
much his mind and fancy may be drawn towards another, 
this mental desire will be all too light to counterbalance 
the material — the centrifugal force will be overborne by 
the centripetal. 

Thus it is, that in training either to a moral or a 
professional habit, an education of the physical as well 
as the mental nature is indispensable. There must be 
the active hand, as well as the planning head — a 
mechanical aptitude for the art, as well as an under- 
standing of the science. A person may be theoretically 
acquainted with every employment, and unable to prac- 
tise one of them, and that not only in the case of those 
requiring manual labour, but even such as depend upon 
an exertion of mind alone. Every profession requires also 
to be worked by a machinery of art peculiar to itself, and 
to be able to work that machinery requires the special 
training of its artisans. Set a watchmaker to construct 
a cabinet, or a carpenter a watch, — a sailor to manage a 
war- steed in battle, or a soldier to work a ship in a 
storm — a physician to conduct a law-suit, or a lawyer 
to prescribe medicine, and, however much skill each 
may have acquired in his own profession, it will be 
found entirely nugatory in conducting any other. 
Hence it is, that by a special application to the principles 



128 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of one profession, it is itself raised to eminence, and 
brings up with it a class of men skilled in its practice. 

Such, then, would also be the condition of education if 
more systematically condensed into a profession. It would 
only be those who, upon examination, were found quali- 
fied to practise its principles, that would be tolerated as 
its professors. While moral character and mental attain- 
ments would ever command respect on their own account, 
an additional qualification would be deemed necessary to 
invest with a professional character. But at present there 
is no bond of union to connect the scattered elements of 
its science sufficiently to elicit and bring to perfection the 
art, and instead of attaining to a knowledge of it by 
action, it is thought to be entirely gained by intuition. 
Hence it is, that a preceptor for the rich is an exception 
to the rule by which the members of other professions are 
tested. The higher classes do not in general tolerate a 
lay preacher, call in an empirical doctor, employ an 
unskilful mechanic ; yet they do worse every day ; at 
least they regulate their choice of a preceptor for their 
children, from qualifications as foreign to those most 
necessary to a right discharge of his duty, as it would 
be to decide the fitness of a clergyman from his 
mathematics, or a physician from his Greek, and 
therefore they can have no guarantee that he will 
prove anything better. 

It is true, that the individual members of a profession 
do not always agree in the details of its practice. Two 
medical men may disagree about the treatment of a par- 
ticular disease, but the same general principles are 
acknowledged by all. Nor will their difference, most 
probably, arise so much from an ignorance of the effects 
produced by certain remedies as from the peculiar nature 
of the disease. Special diseases require special cures, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 129 

just as particular tempers require extraordinary treat- 
ment ; but as the bodily functions are governed by inva- 
riable laws, a uniform knowledge of these is essential 
to rectify their derangement, and as the faculties of 
the moral being are equally uniform in their develop- 
ment, the same general knowledge is necessary to guide 
them properly. A lengthened experience, arising from 
an extensive acquaintance with peculiar cases, will there- 
fore give an increase of skill, in the practice of any 
profession, but a foundation of permanent success must 
previously be laid in a knowledge of its first and general 
principles. The inference that obviously arises from this 
position is, that a strong necessity exists for institutions 
to train men to the profession of education, as it is a 
profession on which so momentous consequences depend. 
Every candid individual must admit that the duties of a 
teacher are at least as serviceable to society as those of 
the clergyman or physician. Many, indeed, will affirm, 
that his office is of more importance than either of these 
individually, as the proper sphere of his duties com- 
prehends a part of the duties of both, or rather forms a 
sort of connecting link between them. The physical 
discipline of education is a preventive of many bodily 
diseases, superseding, in no small degree, the necessity of 
a physician in after life ; and without a foundation of 
moral training in infancy, the labours of a clergyman 
are too often supererogatory. Therefore to endow, or at 
least to institute, professorships for cultivating the 
science and art of education, is as indispensable as it 
is for divinity and medicine. It would, indeed, prove 
auxiliary to both the latter. And that education is 
capable of being reduced to a systematic science and a 
branch of study, may already be seen, though imperfectly 
developed, in the institutions of which I am about to 

G 3 



130 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

speak. But in those places, the benefits of whatever 
discoveries are making in the science are all confined to 
the poor, and though every one must hail these symptoms 
with delight, it is very evident they would have a much 
more permanent hold upon society in general, if shared 
by the wealthier classes, and the great principles of 
the whole fixed down in some national or public insti- 
tutions. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

All the schools mentioned are, on the admission of 
the parties themselves, imperfect in some points. Yet, 
if a comhination of the plans pursued at each, were 
adopted in some one institution, it is conceived that a 
pretty near approach to a correct system of normal 
training might be the result. So far as schools for the 
industrious classes are concerned, in point of mental and 
moral training, the normal school of Glasgow certainly 
maintains a high rank. By mental training, let it ever 
he remembered, is meant the discipline and development 
of mind itself, and teaching it to think. I am not aware 
of any other school of a similar class, where this is so 
systematically attended to. The framing of the ques- 
tions, for the most part, is conducted upon the principle 
of inductive philosophy, and is as far superior to mere 
interrogatory and dogmatical teaching, as Lord Bacon's 
Novum Organum is to the hypothetical philosophy of 
Aristotle. The mind is led by analogy and illustration 
to explain its own difficulties. These are not explained 
gratuitously. The pupil must fight his way to truth 
from collateral data; and this is a first principle that 
obtains throughout the Glasgow system in all its de- 
partments, namely, a training to action and self- helpful- 
ness in all the faculties of a child's nature. In matters of 



132 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

science, he is shown how to reason out his own conclu- 
sions ; in morality, to do good to others, in order to 
secure happiness to himself; and to become healthy, to 
exercise his bodily powers, and live in harmony with the 
laws of nature. To accomplish these all-important ends, 
certain means are employed of a nature somewhat differ- 
ent from those in use in other normal schools. The 
master's own mind is the immediate source whence all the 
children are trained, and hence the greater responsibility of 
his charge, than that of a monitorial master, who deputes 
the most difficult part of his duties to others. It is 
much easier to teach others how to train, than to train 
personally. Nevertheless, it is in this individual training 
that the great virtue, as well as chief difficulty, of the 
art lies. 

The peculiar characteristic of this plan, therefore, in 
its external aspect, is the simultaneous education, by one 
teacher, of a large number of children assembled in a 
gallery, and so arranged that each pupil comes imme- 
diately under the eye of his instructor. A difficulty 
occurs here, however, in getting together a class of 
children of an average status in point of acquirements. 
But when this is done, and the system itself to some extent 
effects an equalisation of attainment, a vein of sympathy 
pervades the minds of all, connecting them together as 
one, which renders the task of the trainer much easier and 
more effective than if he were instructing a single 
isolated pupil. 

Nor is this sympathy of feeling less powerful in 
moralising the conduct and habits. A standard of 
public opinion is formed by which all their actions are 
tested ; and this moral agency, the presiding mind of the 
master, if skilled in his duties, may wield with powerful 
effect. The outward means and opportunities of training 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 133 

to practical morality are also afforded. The play- ground 
is not only a theatre for physical exercises and recreation, 
but the platform of moral action, in which the lessons of 
the gallery come into practical operation. But neither 
is this arena perfect without the superintendence of the 
master. He there watches and encourages the kind 
deed, and represses the vicious tendency, cultivating the 
delicate germs of virtue, and pruning the rank shoots of 
vice. There is also a considerable apparatus for purely 
physical training, such as the circular swing, &c. ; and 
the mechanical movements and evolutions of going in 
and out of school, and to and from classes, are superior, 
but as most of these are in common with other similar 
institutions, they do not require particular notice. The 
chief point of difference in these external arrangements, 
which affects the vitality of the system, is what has just 
been alluded to in the simultaneous education of numbers, 
and the immediate contact that takes place between the 
mind of each individual pupil, and that of the master. 
In monitorial schools this is not the case ; for no monitor 
who is a mere scholar himself, can be expected to train 
his class. He may teach it, but he cannot develop their 
minds on any subject; and such is the prevailing system 
in all the London normal schools, though in these 
places, simultaneous instruction is also partially com- 
municated. 

In these institutions, however, the moral control over 
the children seems perfect. The system itself works the 
school, while the master seems a mere spectator, and yet 
the ultimate control is vested in him alone. He holds 
in his hand the reins of government; but, like an easy 
and tractable steed, the children never feel them. A little 
boy with the motion of his finger will regulate the 
simultaneous movement of five hundred children, manv 



134 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of them no smaller than himself, and be as implicitly- 
obeyed as the master. The principle of subordination 
to a system is acknowledged and felt by all. Yet no one 
can enter a monitorial school, without feeling a doubt 
whether the master ought to allow himself to be a mere 
spectator of the scene ; what is the use of his own 
teaching powers, if he does not give the children the 
advantage of them in a more effectual way than merely 
sustaining order and diligence in the classes ? True, he 
teaches the monitors, and they teach the school, and the 
discipline of an army is brought forward as an analogy ; 
but, however good military and physical discipline may 
be in regulating the organic movements of children, it 
affects but slightly the intellectual and moral training of 
their minds. The physical discipline of the British army 
under the Duke of York, was, perhaps, superior to 
anything ever exhibited by the Duke of Wellington; 
but one must look at the campaigns of France and 
Holland, conducted by the former, and compare these 
with the Peninsula and Waterloo, before estimating 
aright the superiority of that moral training the latter 
so successfully infused into his troops. A question, 
therefore, arises, to what end is this subordination 
conducive, and what gives spirit and life to that system, 
of which monitorism is the body ? Passive obedience may 
be either a good or a bad thing according to the end to 
which it is a means ; and a great deal more than com- 
pliance with certain forms is necessary to establish 
character, and develop mind. A school of a certain 
number of boys is sectioned out into so many classes, 
over each of which a boy presides, and to whom the 
essential work of teaching is committed. But not one 
boy out of fifty can have a sufficient knowledge of the 
laws of mind to propose suitable training questions, and 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 135 

cultivate the reflective powers — or patience and assiduity- 
enough, or even authority to stamp virtuous habits. He 
at the best but exhibits a faint reflection of the master's 
plan of teaching, and a very feeble impression must be the 
result. He may hear lessons, ask questions, and explain 
words, but he can do little more — while much more 
requires to be done, that no one else but a master 
can do. 

How, then, is this surplus of work to be effected, even 
by him ? In the industrial schools, large numbers of 
children must necessarily be assembled, and it is im- 
possible for a master to give his individual attention to 
each pupil, in going from class to class, — so that they 
must either be classified under monitors, and only 
partially taught, or a very small part of them receive 
effectual teaching. This deficiency would of itself, then, 
naturally suggest the gallery system, by which the 
largest possible number could be taught simultaneously. 
But neither is one man sufficient for this continued 
exertion, and he, on the other hand, must have recourse 
to monitorial assistance, to supplement his deficiency. 
It seems, therefore, that while both simultaneous and 
monitorial classification have their defects separately, a 
combination of the two plans might produce the most 
satisfactory results. But this, again, entirely depends 
upon the animating principle of either system, separately 
or conjoined, — upon the spirit that gives vitality to either 
"body. 

The Edinburgh Sessional School, considered as an 
institution for training mind, seems to occupy a middle 
position between the others. It is likewise monitorial 
in its organisation, and the chief characteristic of its 
working principle, the explanatory method. It is much 
in advance of former mechanical systems of teaching by 



136 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

mere rote, but still it is teaching only. The sense and 
meaning of what is read, if not understood, is endeavoured 
to be conveyed in different terms. One word is explained 
by its synonyme, and if that is not sufficient, by another, 
and the spirit or ideas of the text thus attempted to be 
unfolded. As most of this duty, however, devolves 
upon monitors, even were it an efficient mode of instruc- 
tion, it must still be but imperfectly performed. But it 
is seldom efficient, even in the best hands. To explain 
one word by another, where the idea is not given at the 
same time, is like exchanging one coin for another of 
the same value, without receiving or even knowing the 
present use of it. It may increase a stock of words in 
the memory, but does not communicate an equal number 
of ideas to the understanding. 

Words are not ideas, much less are they things. They 
are merely the representatives of the latter. Instead, 
therefore, of explaining one word by another, in an 
attempt to get at the idea, and thence a knowledge of the 
object, the process, as nature herself teaches, ought 
entirely to be reversed. The presence of an object will 
impress an idea of it, and when this is received, the 
name should then be communicated, which being either 
seen or heard, will, in the absence of the archetype, 
ever afterwards recall that idea. Now every word has a 
meaning, in some degree different from another, so that 
one term can never be fully explained by its cognate. The 
earth is not a globe, neither is a globe a sphere, but the 
idea under each term is different from the other. The 
teaching of synonymes, therefore, refers more to analysing 
the difference than the resemblance of ideas, and is a 
study for maturer minds. Hence, by this verbal mode of 
explanation, instead of giving a clearer idea of one 
thing by the name of another, there is a danger of only 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 137 

giving two words for one, and no idea at all. The natural 
course of mental abstraction is upwards, from things to 
ideas, and from ideas to names. If an idea does not 
occur by its own name, the object should either be shown, 
or pictured out clearly, and this many words cannot 
always do, much less a mere synonyme. This kind of 
teaching to children, therefore, as has been mentioned, 
can merely give a variety of expression without clearness 
of definition ; and while, as a whole, the Sessional School 
exhibits many excellences, these seem to consist more 
in improvements upon former modes of teaching, than 
in having adopted, as a basis, the true principles of 
training. 

German writers, in their numerous treatises on educa- 
tion, divide it into three heads — pedagogik, didaktik, 
and methodik— or science, art, and method. The first 
comprehends simply a knowledge of its principles; the 
second, the practice of its art; and the third, certain 
modes of administering that practice. This seems a 
just and philosophical division of the subject, as between 
art and method there is a very necessary distinction, as 
much so, indeed, as between science and art. Method 
is as much more mechanical than art, as art is than 
science. Science is a pure operation of mind; art is that 
operation physically developed; while method is a certain 
mode of its development. Without knowledge, art would 
be imperfect, but, without method, imperfectly manifested. 
Both art and science are necessary to construct a watch, 
but two workmen, equally scientific and skilful, may not 
construct an equally good watch. One may have a better 
mode of doing certain little things about it, which will 
consequently be better done, while the same things, done 
in a different manner, may be worse executed. One 
artisan, from a certain mode of arranging his instruments^ 



138 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

having everything at hand and in its proper place at the 
proper time, will accelerate an operation that requires 
speed, and thus do it better than another who has a 
confused mode of arrangement. There may also, how- 
ever, be different modes of doing the same thing equally 
well. As fine a polish may be given to a surface by 
holding the polishing instrument in one way as in 
another, and a thing may be as speedily and well 
executed by one arrangement of tools as by another ; 
still there must be some correct modes of doing a thing, 
otherwise it cannot be done correctly. Certain methods 
of administering the art of education are, therefore, as 
necessary to efficiency in teaching, as a just knowledge of 
its principles is to lay a proper foundation for the art. 

Now the organisation of a school, whether simulta- 
neous, monitorial, or mixed, comes immediately under 
the head of method; and in the schools just alluded to, 
much imperfection necessarily exists from the classes of 
children educated in them. In any one school there are 
far too many pupils to receive efficient instruction from 
one master. If he had no more pupils than he could 
educate himself, he would need no assistance, but when 
the numbers go beyond his personal management, he 
must call in some kind of aid. If it be as good as he 
can give, the work will, of course, be as well performed ; 
but if not, it must be worse. Now, when that assistance 
is given by mere boys, it must either be applied to 
inferior work, or the ordinary work done in an inferior 
manner. Consequently, monitorism is only the remedy 
of an evil, which would not exist if each master had only 
a suitable number of pupils for his own individual 
management. For this reason, a purely monitorial school 
can hardly be a proper model-training school, so far, at 
least, as the intellectual and moral work is concerned ; 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 139 

and unless the head master with companies of the 
children exhibit, in his own example, a model of the 
art of mental training, and the students also practise 
the same model under his eye and directions, even this 
organic apparatus will he incomplete. So far as the 
writer is aware, there are no institutions where the 
monitorial system is carried to such perfection as in the 
Borough-road Training School, and the National Schools 
at Westminster. It is saying hut little of these excellent 
seminaries, however, to cite them as good examples of a 
mere system of organisation. Many of the best disco- 
veries in the science and art of training, are there 
adopted, and they annually disseminate over the country 
hundreds of well-qualified young men, imbued with a 
similar spirit of improvement. 

The method of education also embraces the arrange- 
ment of desks, suitable school apparatus, and all those 
external appliances, which may differ according to cir- 
cumstances, but without some proper arrangement of 
which little good can be accomplished. It also regards 
the attitude and gait of the master, the command of his 
features, and the very tones of his voice. From these 
merely organic arrangements, however, it ascends to the 
purely intellectual and moral arts of the science, taking 
cognisance of the best modes of teaching all the branches 
of study, and of training all the powers of the human 
being. 

In no school does more attention seem to have been 
paid to the improvement of method in these latter depart- 
ments than in the village and training schools at Battersea, 
near London, established and supported chiefly under the 
auspices of Dr. Kay Shuttleworth, one of the Poor Law 
Commissioners, whose benevolent exertions have done so 
much for the cause of education generally. By way of 



HO PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

following up this idea, schools of method have been 
established in the metropolis, in which instructions are 
given regarding the best modes of teaching the most 
essential branches of education. It is not intended to 
enter into a detail of these branches, or the methods 
pursued in each; an analysis of a few of them may 
serve to show the philosophical principles upon which 
they are based. Of these, the first in order is naturally 
the art of Reading. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Reading is a process by which, at a glance, the mind 
acquires a knowledge of events, past, present, and future. 
It is thus a condensed mode of gaining knowledge, and 
being necessarily complicated, requires much time and 
practice to become available for that purpose. It is 
looking at nature through a symbolical medium, but 
unlike hieroglyphical symbols, in which objects and ideas 
were delineated and conveyed to the mind by the sense 
of sight, the connexion between language and objects 
must be traced mentally. Certain marks, or groups of 
marks, represent particular sounds, which again signalise 
certain ideas, or mental pictures of nature. These sounds 
and words have a merely arbitrary value, and, like the 
paper currency of a country, are of no use unless sanc- 
tioned by authority and representing something of intrinsic 
worth. To read is, therefore, to look at things through 
the names of their images, by which the mind obtains 
a secondary reflection merely, and a very faint miniature 
of nature ; and if it can thus obtain a greater number of 
ideas in a smaller compass than from a hieroglyphical book, 
these are necessarily much more obscure individually. 

The eyes of the understanding must, therefore, be 
prepared for the task by a maturity of development, and 
trained to it by much practice. The initiating into 



142 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

this process also presumes upon a capacity for retaining and 
comprehending those ideas of which the names are given. 
These words or names should serve the mind as an index 
to its knowledge, hut unless associated with the correct 
ideas, they will only darken the judgment; or if not clearly 
connected with any ideas, they are of no more practical 
use, in a mental point of view, than a forged note or a 
false picture. To read without understanding the mean- 
ing, is an act of sensation merely, in which the eye in- 
forms the ear how certain marks should he sounded, and is 
a similar process to reading music from notes. Scarcely 
any mental exertion takes place in this operation, and no 
"benefit is derived beyond gaining possession of an in- 
strument whose uses have yet to be learned. As by a little 
practice any one may read Greek fluently, and not under- 
stand a word of it, so may a child learn to pronounce 
all the words in English without receiving any ideas from 
them, there being no necessary connexion between the 
one and the other. The Greek reader must appeal to a 
lexicon for his ideas, and combining these with his Greek 
terms, thus render these latter vehicles filled with thought, 
whereas before, they were to him mere empty sounds. 
And the English student must follow a similar course ; he 
must look into his words to see what they contain, other- 
wise they will only serve as an indication how to enun- 
ciate certain vocal sounds, just as the musician is guided 
by the disposition of crotchet, and quaver in the modula- 
tion of his tones and the timing of his song. Ideas should, 
therefore, be communicated simultaneously, or rather 
antecedently to their names, both oral and written. 

Again, words are combinations of elementary sounds, 
the marks or letters representing which are equally arbi- 
trary, and even of these letters the greater part, namely, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 143 

consonants, are also the marks of combined sounds. The 
voices, or vowels, are the only true elementary sounds, 
and of these only three, a, e, o, are purely unmixed. 
These latter require hut one conformation of the vocal 
organs to pronounce them, and no motion in the organs ; 
the other vowels require a double conformation, and are, 
in fact, a sort of diphthong, requiring two half sounds to 
make them up, and so on through all the consonants. 
It is evident that no description of these sounds can con- 
vey a just notion to the ear, how they should be enun- 
ciated, neither do the names of the characters representing 
them afford much indication of this. The living voice 
must pitch the note, and, as far as possible, in doing so 
the external organs of speech be exhibited in action. 
These must be imitated and re-echoed by the pupil before 
he be able to articulate the same sound. This done, the 
next step is to present to the eye the mark of that sound 
upon a black board, and to establish a connexion in the 
mind between them, so that, on the re- appearance of the 
same mark in future, the eye may inform the ear what 
particular sound is to be enunciated. 

As many letters in the English tongue, however, have 
several sounds, a difficulty occurs in remembering this 
distinction, which obtains as much between the different 
sounds of the same letter as between different letters, and 
which can only properly be overcome by practice when 
letters are being formed into words. When all the ele- 
mentary sounds have been thus acquired and remembered, 
the synthetic process commences, and two or more sounds 
are agglutinated into one, forming a monosyllable, which 
should also be presented to the eye. 

By this time the pupil, if he remember the separate 
sounds of each letter, will be able to combine them him- 



144 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

self and pronounce the word. If this word he the name 
of anything unknown to the pupil, a higher process should 
now take place, — the object, or a diagram of it, should he 
exhibited, and a connexion established between the name 
and the thing. Thus, an object and its written name 
being seen together and associated in the mind, an idea 
of the former will afterwards be called up by seeing its 
name, or the name by seeing the object. A parallel course 
to this is to make the pupil write or trace the letter him- 
self on a slate after he has seen it on the black board, and 
there is nothing to prevent all these operations going on 
at the same time, and almost in the same lesson, namely, 
reading, writing, and gaining new ideas. 

This way of teaching the alphabet by the sound or 
powers of the letters rather than by their names, is called 
the phonic method, and is coming into very general 
practice in the best schools. In those of the continent 
it has been long in operation, and within the last few 
years Dr. Kay Shuttleworth has been the means of intro- 
ducing it into England, where a trial was first made of it 
in his training school at Battersea. It is strictly a mental 
and training exercise, and proceeding upon a principle of 
nature. To teach the alphabet by the names of the letters, 
and thence to attempt to form words out of them, 
requires a constant system of telling, because there is 
often no connexion between such names and the sounds 
wanted. Suppose a child knew the names of a and of b, 
and were requested to join them by the process men- 
tioned, what could he say, but that it was a, b, or, perhaps, 
abe, he would never think of pronouncing it ab. Whereas, 
if he knew the power of a, and of b, the very enunciating 
of each letter consecutively, would give the true pronun- 
ciation of the monosyllable. Or were he asked to join e 
and / from their names, he would, of, course, call it eel. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 145 

and without giving any reason, the master would correct 
him by simply telling the right sound. 

Children who are taught to read on this now antiquated 
mode derive very little assistance from knowing the names 
of their letters. It is even possible to teach a clever boy to 
read before he knows one-half of their names. After learn- 
ing the alphabet, too, almost every succeeding syllable must 
be sounded and every lesson told to them. Their progress,, 
therefore, depends entirely upon a process of memory in 
recalling the sounds of whole words as they have been told 
them, and not in any acquired power of analysing and 
recombining their elementary sounds. Every new word is 
acquired in the same way as an individual letter, and the 
whole language learned like the entire alphabet, by re- 
peated efforts of memory. Again, when the process is 
reversed, and an attempt made to analyse words into the 
names of their letters, or simply to spell vocally, no as- 
sistance is gained from the entire sound of the word to 
discover its individual letters. For example, what phonic 
connexion is there between the word house and the names 
of the following letters — h o u s e? When, therefore, a 
child is asked to spell a word in this way, he never thinks 
how its letters sound, but the sound of the word recalls to 
his mind a picture of its appearance as seen in the book, 
and according to the vividness of his recollection will he 
spell it correctly or otherwise. 

Hence the enormous drudgery to which poor children 
are often subjected in what is miscalled "learning to 
spell," a labour without the slightest possible benefit, 
either as an auxiliary in learning to read or to spell. The 
use of spelling is not to learn to read, but to copy reading 
or to convert it into writing, and in this process no sounds 
are required. It is simply an act of memory recalling 
the forms of words and the order of their letters,, and 



146 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

arranging them accordingly. Spelling is an imitative 
art, like painting, and may be commenced at any stage 
of reading, but it can only be done correctly after the 
words to be spelt have become familiar to the mind in 
reading. It follows, that the oftener certain words are 
read, they will have the better chance of being spelt 
rightly; so that frequent reading and writing will en- 
sure correct spelling almost as a matter of course. The 
pupil's first spelling lesson should be simply an act of 
copying; next, writing from the dictation of another, and 
then comparing that copy with the printed original; 
next, to read over a small piece, shut the book and write 
from memory, then open and compare the two, and, 
lastly, the constant practice of writing themes, versions, 
and other original exercises. 

It should never be forgotten how purely instrumental 
a part of education reading is. It gives to the mind an 
additional power to that conferred by oral speech, by which 
its faculties are carried to a higher degree of spirituality 
and refinement, but it is still only a more efficacious 
means to the same end. Both instruments, however, are 
practically useless until by exercise the mind can employ 
them and understand the qualities of the objects with which 
they have to deal. Speech serves the purpose of a hand 
to the mind, by which knowledge, its appropriate food, is 
procured and prepared for contemplation. Heading is a 
more artificial instrument put into the hand for obtaining 
a larger supply, and of a more recherche description. 
But both are effective only when the mental organisation 
is capable of receiving and assimilating such an aliment. 
They are, then, necessary to aid in a higher process of 
development than that resulting from mere sensation. A 
more spiritual nature supervenes upon the sensitive, and 
becomes a distinct essence from it, but it is, nevertheless, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 147 

based upon the latter, and while its roots derive nourish- 
ment from that soil, its branches drink in a more 
ethereal aliment conveyed by speech and reading ; it is, 
therefore, the higher powers of our mental nature to 
which these administer. 

But long before a child is capable either of speaking or 
reading, his intellectual education ought to be commenced. 
The senses are the only inlets of his earliest knowledge. 
Objects bearing a relation to these should, therefore, be 
presented to them, and early habits of accurate observation 
formed. The physical powers of the senses, and the ner- 
vous machinery attached to them, being thus cultivated, 
a healthy mental fabric is preparing to receive more deli- 
cate impressions. As the eye of a child is unable to cal- 
culate the shortest distance aright, and, it is said, views 
objects in an inverted position, until experience corrects 
the error, so the mind's eye must be trained by observa- 
tion and tangible evidence to gain its first knowledge, 
which reflection will ultimately establish as axiomatical 
truths. But as the range of a child's observation is limited 
to the few chance objects around him, the educator must 
increase the supply, and bring other objects before him 
on which his faculties may be exercised. Where the 
child cannot go into the world, the world in sample 
must be brought in to him. Fragments of nature and 
art must be submitted to his touch to convey ideas of 
their hardness or softness ; to his olfactory nerves 
to gain ideas of smell ; his ears must be awakened to 
catch their sound; his eyes to see their form and colour, 
and his palate to taste their flavour. Such maybe called 
the education of the senses, and the impressions thus 
conveyed are ideas of sensation. Things of different and 
contrary qualities must next be submitted, and their con- 
trasts or resemblances perceived, which will be the first 

h£ 



148 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

effort of the mind at comparison, and the ideas thus 
gained will he those of reflection. Again, from a percep- 
tion that several objects and ideas have the same qualities 
in common, general 'and abstract notions will he derived, 
and to each of these separate ideas, as soon as communi- 
cated, must he attached its respective name, the want of 
which will then he felt to distinguish it from others. 

This is entirely treading in the footsteps of nature, and 
analogous even to the progress and formation of language 
itself. Children, before they are taught artificially, have 
a much greater stock of ideas than of names. They know 
the nature and qualities of objects, their differences and 
resemblances, long before they can indicate or express that 
knowledge. So in the early stages of language, when it is 
not commensurate to the knowledge of a people, the same 
difficulty is felt, but partly met by doubling up terms into 
metaphors, or forming new words out of the fragments of 
old ones. Every new principle in art or science must be 
separately named to distinguish its identity. Words, 
therefore, are a result of necessity, and will as naturally 
be sought after by a child to denominate a new toy, as by 
a philosopher to describe a new planet. 

This desire, then, keeps pace with the extension of a 
child's knowledge, and should be gratified accordingly; 
but the supply should never exceed the demand, else a 
spurious verbal knowledge is communicated, darkening 
the mind to a clear perception of things. The objects 
should in themselves be so clearly understood as not to 
be obscured by the intervention of words. They must be 
transparent through them. Whereas, if they are repre- 
sented at first through this medium, either a confused 
notion of them is obtained, or no idea at all. But, neither 
must reading be neglected when the mind has acquired a 
certain growth and comprehensibility. Small portions of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 149 

words, descriptive of known ideas, must be mingled with 
other unknown terms, which must also he rendered trans- 
parent by exhibiting a model, a diagram, or a verbal pic- 
ture of what they represent. Thus, hand in hand must 
the knowledge of words accompany an understanding of 
things, each reflecting light upon the other, and both 
administering to the growth and strengthening of the 
mental faculties. This discovery of bringing a child into 
actual contact with the objects of nature, and educing his 
powers of observation and reflection before teaching him 
the nomenclature of knowledge, is due to the justly cele- 
brated Henry Pestalozzi, the morning star of educational 
reform. With him necessity prompted the plan. He 
could not be supplied with books and the ordinary school 
apparatus, and, in attempting to do without them, dis- 
covered their comparative inutility. His want of artificial 
means compelled him to return to nature, and develop 
the stores of information she herself communicates both 
to teacher and pupil. His lessons on objects are, 
therefore, the first principles of a truly intellectual 
education. 

The art of printing, and the diffusion of knowledge by 
means of printed books, being still a thing of recent ori- 
gin, much of that blind veneration and awe that formerly 
attached to letters, still prevails. And in many cases the 
mere study of dead literature apart from the knowledge it 
contains forms the principal pursuit in advanced schools ; 
while the same feelings lead to the idea that, even in ele- 
mentary education, books are the only necessary instru- 
ments. But, in point of fact, they should form but a small 
item in the apparatus of a well-regulated seminary, and 
consequently, the learning to read them, a very secondary 
object of school attendance. The most powerful agency in 
mental development is the, living voice directed by the 



150 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

intelligent mind. A master's instructions should spring 
from the fountain of his own knowledge, and his voice 
he the channel of conveying that information to 
his pupil. A clear articulation, together with a correct 
accent and emphasis, is, therefore, a principal auxiliary 
to the same end. It is the correct mode of handling the 
instrument of speech hy which the same truths are more 
vividly impressed upon the understanding, than by an 
incorrect utterance. It may he called the mechanical 
art of speaking, and is equally necessary to attain skill in 
teaching, as the use of any material instrument what- 
ever is to its correct application. If one learning to 
write hold the pen in a wrong way, his letters will be in- 
correctly traced, and many of them illegible to the eye ; 
and from the incorrect utterance of words, equally partial 
and unintelligible impressions are conveyed to the mind. 
It is still part of the process of mental picturing. The 
more distinctly that words are spoken, the more clearly 
is each member of the picture laid upon the mind and 
the whole filled up, whereas by an indistinct articulation 
much of what is said is lost before it reaches the mind, 
and the picture often curtailed of its most essential pro- 
portions. Speech, too, is the dress of ideas, but apart from 
the style of this dress its manner is no less to be regarded. 
A tasteful dress may be worn in so careless a manner as 
to lose its effect in pleasing the eye, and the best style of 
language may be neutralised by an inarticulate and un- 
emphatic manner of presenting it to the ear. Every one 
knows how much effect is produced in pulpit and forensic 
oratory by a deliberate articulation, aided by gesture and 
intonation. These may be called the poetry of manner, 
and as they appeal to the feelings before the understand- 
ing, a more ready assent is given to truths so conveyed. 
By these extrinsic accidents, therefore, popularity is more 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 151 

frequently gained than by the real merits of an orator's 
matter. The most trite remarks well delivered become 
dignified into seemingly original truths ; and weak 
arguments, from the clearness and force with which 
they are uttered, strike deeper conviction than the most 
powerful arguments uttered feebly and indistinctly. As 
formerly stated, all speaking of this nature is simply 
teaching of a different kind, and the principle applies in 
a much higher degree in communicating instruction to 
children. They are, of course, more apt to be led away by 
specious appearances than grown people. Their keener 
perception of the language of manner seems indeed to 
compensate for their inferior power of discriminating 
truth. They scan the countenance and motion of their 
teacher, criticise the inflections of his voice and the 
energy or feebleness of its tone, and thus often arrive 
at conclusions which his unaided words would either fail 
to convey or directly controvert. 

Now the same aptitude in children to perceive this in 
others, affords a facility to impress upon themselves a 
similar practice in their own use of speech. A clear arti- 
culation of each syllable, with an accent and emphasis 
corresponding to the sense, is as necessary, in order to 
express and impress that meaning aright, as pronuncia- 
tion itself. Words may be equally misunderstood by 
an inarticulate as by a wrong pronunciation; and as 
they may be read in ignorance of what they mean, they 
may also be articulated so as to convey no definite 
meaning to others, or a directly opposite one to their true 
sense. A negative may become an affirmative or an 
affirmative a negative, while between these extremes it is 
tone and emphasis alone that regulate every shade of dif- 
ference. It is evident, therefore, that the meaning of what 
is read must be previously understood by the pupil before 



152 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

lie can modulate the sound of his voice to the proper 
expression of that meaning. When an actor studies his 
part of a drama, he strives to enter iuto the feelings of 
the character personated and to modulate his tones accord- 
ing to the language of the several passions; and so must 
the pupil he guided by the sense of what he reads into 
the proper manner of reading it. 

The best way to induce a habit of correct articulation 
is to make the pupil pause sensibly between each word 
and syllable ; to let the preceding sound die away before 
a new one be uttered, that no two consecutive sounds 
may run together, marring the effect of each. These 
pauses must be of longer duration at first, but as the 
utterance improves, they should gradually approximate. 
To borrow the simile of an able educationist, these 
pauses may represent the long letters of one learning to 
write, which, by degrees, are shortened into half text 
and small hand, as freedom and dexterity in using the 
pen are acquired. When this is accomplished, too, not 
only are the letters smaller but executed with more 
rapidity, and in proportion to the care taken in forming 
the large letters will be the clearness and distinctness of the 
small hand. So in rapid articulation, a mere confusion of 
sounds is produced, unless by a previously slow enuncia- 
tion, the vocal organs have been accustomed to utter each 
syllable with clearness and facility, as well as rapidity. 
While, then, a distinct articulation impresses thought 
-more powerfully upon the mind, a correct accentuation 
and emphasis render language more pleasant to the 
ear and grateful to the feelings; They are, indeed, 
the music of language, and adapted to express the 
passions and sentiments with many different shades and 
degrees of qualities that have no adequate terms to 
-express them, and therefore . as necessary to be ac- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 153 

quired in order to give the full meaning of words, 
as are the different powers of the same letters to 
give the various pronunciations of the words them- 
selves. 

It may here he remarked that accent and emphasis are 
but modifications of the same principle. The former points 
out to the hearer or reader the most important syllable of a 
word, and the latter the important word or clause of a sen- 
tence. Accent also distinguishes between two meanings 
which sometimes attach to the same word, and thus serves 
as a sort of compensatory process for the want of an 
additional word. When I say August, for example, I 
mean a very different thing from August, gallant from 
gallant, desert from desert. And by emphasis alone, the 
meaning of a whole sentence may be changed, by laying 
the stress upon a different word. In the following well- 
known example — "Do you ride to town to-day?" the 
sense may be changed five times, according as one word 
or another becomes emphatic. The emphatic word 
generally conveys the principal idea in the sentence, and 
the natural law of accentuation lays stress upon the root 
of the word, but an acquaintance with etymology and the 
harmony of terminations is necessary to discern the 
law that regulates their conventional position. According 
to Mr. Walker, " in words from the Saxon the accent is 
generally on the root ; in words from the learned lan- 
guages it is generally on the termination; and if to 
these we add the different accent we lay on some words 
to distinguish them from others, we seem to have the 
three great principles of accentuation, namely, the radical, 
the terminational, and the distinctive." It may not, 
indeed, be necessary for every teacher thus to ascertain 
the nature and origin of accent and emphasis, but he must 
at least be familiar with their use, and able to analyse 

H 8 



154 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

them to his pupils so as to train them into the prac- 
tice of this much- neglected part of intellectual education. 
As the pupil advances in a knowledge of what he 
reads, and the manner of reading it, a still' higher 
analytical and synthetical process awaits him in that of 
etymology. He must he able not only to pronounce 
and know the meaning of his words, but also to see 
how that meaning is evolved from them, — not only 
skilled in handling his literary instrument, but able 
to analyse its component parts. This, however, can 
only be a comparative analysis, as the tracing of 
words to their primitive elemental condition is a study 
too abstruse, not only for the schoolboy, but the pro- 
foundest philologist. The reason is, that the process of 
agglutinating sounds into words commences long before 
these words are transmitted to posterity in writing. The 
phonic method of teaching to read, by joining into 
monosyllables the elementary sounds of the alphabet, is 
precisely the way in which an oral language is first 
formed. A thorough course of etymology would there- 
fore require to analyse words into their primitive 
sounds, for it is certain that all words were at first 
simple monosyllables — at least, the farther any language 
is traced up to its source, the more attenuated does it 
become, and words of a complex sound become the fewer. 
Thus the whole of a language, in its early state, con- 
sists of a certain number of these simple sounds, each 
one having a distinct meaning in itself. It is, therefore, 
up to this point that the philologist must prosecute his 
inquiries, but most of which must obviously be conjecturaL 
Still, an oral would likely follow a very similar course to 
that of a written language. Let us suppose a language to 
have some twenty or thirty of these primitive uncompounded 
sounds, and each of them to be the sign or name of an 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 155 

object, and that some other new idea arose requiring a new 
name, instead of inventing another sound for the purpose, 
the most obvious course would unquestionably be, to recur 
to the sounds already in use, and by joining two or three 
of these together, form a new component term. 

This is at least analogous to the composition of 
written words. For example, when a word was wanted 
to express the new idea and art, of causing nature to 
delineate herself by fixing down 'rays of light upon 
certain prepared materials, instead of inventing a new 
sound and new characters to signify that sound, two 
old words with a little alteration were joined together 
into the new term ft photography," which elegantly 
expresses the science of drawing by light. Of these 
primitive vocal sounds, then, new combinations would 
rapidly be formed, as they are in their nature so favour 
able for running into one another. This process of 
agglutination, or of gluing sounds together, owes its 
existence principally to the necessities of spoken lan- 
guage, and we find, therefore, unwritten tongues as well 
as written ones, presenting these phenomena of combined 
elementary sounds. Some of the Indian languages, it 
is said, are exceedingly rich in all such words as have 
been formed by this agglutinating process. But as it is 
nearly impossible to analyse any of these unwritten 
words into their elemental roots, it is only from the 
time that a language has been committed to writing that 
its practical etymology commences. When this takes 
place, a new process begins, in the construction of words 
— not by an aggregation of elemental sounds, but a com- 
bination of the fragments of existing words, though, un- 
like the former, it is a combination that prevents not each 
part of the compound term from retaining its distinct- 
ive character. It depends, therefore, on the state of 



15G philosophy of training: 

advancement that a language has made before 'being 
committed to writing, whether these elementary forms of 
speech be few or numerous, for this process of agglu- 
tinating sounds into monosyllables necessarily ceases 
when a language is fixed down in writing, and that of 
constructing its literal syllables commences. 

The component parts of words, then, are now the root, 
prefix, aud postfix; the two last being probably mere 
fragments of formerly existing words, first used in a 
relational capacity between words, and latterly to con- 
nect several ideas into the same word. In proceeding to 
the study of etymology, it is therefore the teacher's duty 
to detach these concretions from the stock to which they 
adhere, and to give their own meaning as well as the pure 
meaning of the root, separately. Lists of these, with their 
meaning, should be committed to memory, that the pupil 
may be able to understand and go along with his master 
in the analytical process. This being done, suppose such a 
word as infallible is to be explained : instead of simply 
telling the pupil that it means not deceivable, the mean- 
ing of the root /alio is asked and given, together with 
the separate meanings of in and ible, when, by a very 
easy process of combination, the above meaning is found. 
Various forms of the same root are also given as a col- 
lateral exercise, and some of the parts of speech of which 
the word is susceptible. The etymological meaning of a 
word, however, is not always the current one : and this 
distinction must be attended to and remedied in a process 
of mental composition. The secondary or metaphorical 
use of a term is often the more common way in which it 
is applied. Though radix signifies a root, literally, and 
eradicate to root out, yet we cannot talk about eradi- 
cating the weeds out of a garden, though that is the 
most likely example a child would give as an illustration 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. ] 57 

of the use of the word. Its figurative application to 
moral ideas is its conventional use, and error is said to 
be eradicated from the mind. In accordance with a 
principle of training, therefore, the pupil is asked to 
form a sentence embodying the word when defined, which 
not only fixes in his memory the correct sense of the 
term, but prepares him, in general, to express his 
thoughts in clear and perspicuous language. 

It is a mistake to imagine it necessary to study Latin 
and Greek, formally, in order to attain a knowledge of the 
etymology of English. For all practical purposes, a voca- 
bulary of Latin and Greek roots and prepositions is quite 
enough. The more extensive that any one's knowledge of 
these is, of course, the greater will be his facility in ana- 
lysing the English terms compounded of them. But very 
little acquaintance with the construction and syntax of 
the dead languages is needed to be an English etymolo- 
gist. It is, therefore, a study accessible to all, and 
especially necessary in a course of elementary instruc- 
tion to children. It gives them a power of breaking 
down words, for themselves, and arriving at the meaning 
of terms that would, otherwise, require a long peri- 
phrasis to explain. And how necessary is it, as a key to 
the meaning of those technicalities connected with the 
sciences which formerly threw such an air of mystery 
around many of the simplest facts in nature ! 

In the phonic method of teaching to read by the nature 
and power of letters, and learning to spell by dictation 
and writing, the first practical part of Grammar is also 
acquired collaterally. In like manner this branch of 
etymology, namely, the derivation and composition of 
words, forms a very important item in its second division. 
Much of its higher and more intricate departments may 
even be taught in the same incidental way. Indeed, a 



158 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

knowledge of the whole basis of grammar is an essential 
concomitant of learning to read intellectually. When 
words are seen in their true light as the marks or signs of 
ideas, and these understood to represent certain classes of 
objects, qualities, actions, relations, &c, it is very easily 
inferred that the words themselves must be of different 
kinds or classes. Hence arises the want of names to dis- 
tinguish one class from another, while the meaning of the 
word gives a sure indication to what particular class it 
belongs. The word man is the sign of a different kind 
of idea from that of white, and, consequently, a different 
sort of word from white ; but the word horse or tree is the 
name of a similar kind of idea, that is, it represents one 
of a similar class of objects, and is, therefore, a word of 
the same class. All words belonging to this class have, 
therefore, the same name, and those belonging to a dif- 
ferent class have a different name. Equally gradual and 
natural too, must such a process be to that of acquiring 
a knowledge of the meaning of the language itself, 
from concrete to abstract terms. The names of sensible 
objects are first generalised and classed under the 
appellation of nouns; those of qualities, as being the 
next obvious, are collected and called adjectives; the 
names of actions are denominated verbs; of relations 
prepositions, &c. 

Thus incidentally may a knowledge of all the eight 
parts of speech be acquired, even according to that divi- 
sion of them ; but this is far from being a logical dis- 
tinction, for when we carry out the same investigation of 
words into their meaning, they can easily be separated 
into two great divisions. They either resolve themselves 
into the names of objects or ideas, or into copulatives and 
relations between these objects and ideas. To say, there- 
fore, that a noun is the name of an idea is quite correct, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 159 

but when we define the name of its qualities or properties, 
such as the idea of its greenness, size, or action, by the 
term adjective, attributive, or verb; of course a different 
term is applied to the sign of a different kind of idea, 
which is even made more visible to the mind by such a 
definition, but large, green, strike, are as strictly the 
names of ideas, and therefore, as much nouns, as are 
man, tree, river, names of visible and tangible objects. 
Yet, as these latter were unquestionably the first parts of 
speech, and names of qualities, quantities, and action, 
were next invented, with the view of illustrating some 
mode or operation of external objects, we cannot so easily 
recall an idea of the latter without associating them with 
substantial objects. For example, when the word tree 
occurs, it is not always thought of as a green object, or 
as waving in the breeze, because it does not require these 
accidental properties to render it mentally visible, but the 
term green is more readily associated in the mind with 
some object, and the word strike naturally calls up two 
other objects to which the action has a reference. These, 
however, are only the names of qualities in concretion ; 
and when the ideas are generalised, green becomes green- 
ness, and strike becomes stroke, general terms for what 
is substantially the same thing. So that adjectives and 
verbs are simply qualifying nouns, that is, concrete 
names, or names of one set of ideas that qualify others. 
Apart, therefore, from the associations which these terms 
naturally raise in the mind, they as distinctly convey 
entire ideas or notions as any term indicating a sensible 
and visible object. 

A more philosophical, though perhaps not so conve- 
nient way of classifying words, has, therefore, been sug- 
gested, and that is into sounds or signs, which of them- 
selves convey a notion, hence called notional, and others 



160 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

which convey no notion of themselves, hut showing a 
relation between others, may he styled relational. Of the 
former kind are nouns, adjectives, and verbs, and of the 
latter, prepositions, interjections, and conjunctions. Pro- 
nouns and adverbs, being auxiliary to the former, may be 
classed under the same head. These are not absolutely 
necessary as parts of speech, but only for convenience ; a 
pronoun is a substitute for a noun, and presents a picture 
to the mind by reflection, and an adverb can easily be 
diluted into a periphrasis. Nor is this twofold division 
of words into notional and relational at all impracti- 
cable, as it may easily be ascertained to what division 
any word belongs. The mention or sight of a no- 
tional word, unconnected with any other, calls up a 
certain picture in the mind, but a relational term leaves 
the mind as much a blank as before, until the words to 
which it forms a connecting link have been mentioned. 
Even these relative words themselves, indeed, are 
thought to have been originally notional terms, or nouns, 
forming some of the primitive monosyllabic names of 
which I have lately spoken — a supposition strictly in 
accordance with the fact, that in the very earliest forma- 
tion of a language all its words are nouns, or names of 
the most palpable objects. 

At all events, whatever classification be made, whether 
into two or eight parts of speech, a knowledge of this 
part of grammar can only be acquired by finding from 
the meaning or application of words to what denomina- 
tion they belong. Without this the names of the parts 
of speech will be meaningless terms, and the only ideas 
that can be formed by committing them to memory will 
refer but to the shape and appearance of the words 
themselves. 
i In like manner the different terms used to denote the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 161 

modification of words must be pictured out before com- 
municated. It is even injurious to do otherwise, as the 
mind is so apt to rest satisfied with the apprehension of 
mere names, and be deceived out of a knowledge of their 
meaning and import. Of what use is it to commit to 
memory the statement that " a noun is varied by gender, 
number, and case," until it be understood what gender, 
number, and case are, and what is meant by their varying 
a noun; and when this is understood, what need is there 
for learning the rule at all ? It becomes then a mere 
formula, necessary, perhaps, in the abstract science of 
grammar, but of no use in the practice of its art. The 
meaning of such terms should be illustrated by familiar 
examples. The words hoy, girl, and stone are seen to be 
nouns as belonging to the same class of tangible objects, 
but having special qualities, a subdivision takes place, 
and the difference between each is called gender, of which 
there are three kinds, according to the three classes, mas- 
culine, feminine, and neuter. So also the words tree and 
trees denote a difference of another kind, which is styled 
number, and according as one or more objects are parti- 
cularised, the number is singular or plural. The same 
word is also seen with a difference of termination, and 
expressing its idea in three different characters and rela- 
tions, and a name is given to each of these contingencies 
or cases, called the nominative, possessive, and objective. 
The qualities are also defined by a similar process. The 
names of these are absolute terms, expressing things the 
same in kind, but according as one object has a greater 
or less quantity than another is that difference denoted 
by the relative terms, positive, comparative, and superla- 
tive. It may be exemplified thus: three objects, one 
four feet long, another five, and another six, have all the 
same absolute quality of height, but when compared with 



162 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

one another they are found to have it in different quan- 
tities. It is the difference, then, in the amount of quality 
among these objects that requires to he specified by the 
relative terms mentioned.* 

A very grave question here arises, however, how far it 
is necessary thus to simplify and inculcate a knowledge 
of the mere science of grammar to school-hoys, even upon 
the most natural principles. It is an art as well as a 
science, the art of speaking and writing according to cus- 
tom ; and though it is subject to certain fixed rules and 
principles, yet it is not so much from a knowledge of 
these that skill is acquired in it, as from a dexterity in 
practising the custom. It is like the different influences 
of precept and example in morals, the former exhibiting 
human actions as in a mirror, but the latter presenting 
them in living reality ; the one may enlighten the head, 
but the other more effectually induces the habit. So in 
grammar, it is not so much a knowledge as a practice 
of the art that gives the ready habit of correct compo- 
sition. Of how little advantage would it be to an artist 
merely to become acquainted with the mathematical rules 
of perspective drawing, the vanishing point, the visual 
angle, and the line of beauty, or be so skilled in optics, 
and the properties of colours, as to compound the richest 
hues, if he never handled the pencil and the brush in 
realising this knowledge by a practical imitation of 
nature ! These alone will not educate his eye and his 
hand, which must be equally trained with the head. 

So is it in grammar, whether in learning to speak or to 
write correctly, the first attempts at which are of necessity 
entirely imitative, namely, the child imitating the diction 
of its parents. He requires no grammar to prepare him 

* See article on Grammar in Chambers' Information for the 
People, regarding the same view of other parts of speech. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 163 

for oral composition, or, in plain words, to learn to speak. 
By a constant practice, and after repeated failures, he first 
learns to articulate words, and then to combine these 
into sentences. It depends, of course, entirely upon the 
model after which he copies, whether these sentences are 
correct or incorrect, and whether his words and phrases 
are well chosen or the reverse. Or again, suppose the 
child brought up under French parents, he will of course, 
speak the French language, or under English parents the 
English, according to the model which either exhibits. 
And in proportion to the purity and elegance, or errors 
and provincialisms of his parents will his own language be 
pure or the reverse. "If, then, a boy can compose spoken 
sentences without a previous knowledge of rules, what is 
to prevent his forming written ones ? In the one case the 
instrument of expression is the tongue, in the other the 
pen ; but the process of combining ideas, and the process 
of turning these ideas into conventional terms, whether 
sounds or marks, are precisely the same in both. Where, 
then, is the absolute need of grammar to teach the pupil 
to do this ? Might it not as well be argued that he must 
be taught grammar before being allowed to speak, as to 
insist on its acquisition before he is permitted to write ? 
The legitimate sphere of grammar is correction, not 
suggestion. Language is the foundation, the source of 
grammar, and the pupil must be practically trained in 
the former, before the inferences of the latter can be of 
service. Hence, not only is there no need of forcing one 
through a treatise of grammar to make him a composer, 
but it is positively injurious to do so. Eules are results, 
and sound mental training, whatever be the science or 
art, consists in leading the pupil up the steps by which 
these results are attained, so that he is not only interested 
in the process, but capable of valuing the product. The 



164 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

habit thus formed is the great end which, however, can 
never be attained by reversing the business, or what is 
still worse, by handing the pupil ready-made rules with- 
out even a hint as to the mode of their derivation. To 
learn grammar and syntax, then, in the end instead of in 
the beginning, is following precisely the course of nature ; 
it is learning the language analytically, — learning it, in 
fine, the very way in which the language itself has been 
formed."* 

This analogy, indeed, obtains, throughout the whole 
course of a child's education up to manhood. It is be- 
cause the means of improvement are more condensed now 
than in the earlier ages of the world, that in the course of 
a life-time, man arrives at an amount of knowledge that 
would formerly have extended over several generations. 
A rude people spend most of their days in discovering 
the simplest principles of nature. Their successors rise a 
step higher, and their descendants still further gain in 
knowledge, until the results of their experience are so ac- 
cumulated that succeeding generations, before they have 
attained to manhood, acquire an amount of information 
greater than the combined wisdom of centuries. Still, 
the course of an individual's education of the present day 
ought to be precisely similar to that of a rude community 
advancing to civilisation. The same steps must be gone 
over in both cases, though trodden more rapidly in the 
former, that is, from the concrete to the abstract in men- 
tal development, and from instinct to feeling and senti- 
ment in morals. Much depends, therefore, upon an in- 
dividual's being put upon a right track at his first outset, 
and being led along by an easy ascent to mental and 
moral excellence, otherwise much of the ground must be 
re-trodden, and much precious time irrecoverably wasted. 

* Chanibers. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 165 

In no branch of education is this more necessarv than in 
learning the English language intellectually. In every 
stage of learning to read, to spell, and to write his ver- 
nacular tongue, the child must he led on by induction, 
his understanding being under the guidance of principles, 
not rules merely, so that when he begins a systematic 
study of grammar, his previous knowledge of its basis, 
will enable him successfully to generalize its more recon- 
dite philosophy. It will then be a study adapted to the 
enlarged powers of his mind, and preparatory for entering 
upon a critical examination of the structure and beauties 
of English literature. The higher authors may now be 
read with advantage, and the principles of belles lettres, 
and the higher departments of composition engaged in. 



CHAPTER X. 

In the same way that abstract terms of qualities are 
derived from a contemplation of real objects, are ideas of 
number also gained. A blind man has no idea of colour, 
having never seen any object of which it is a property, 
and his mind cannot receive such an impression until it 
be first en stamped upon the retina of his eye, and thence 
conveyed to the sensorium by the optic nerve. So must 
a child be mentally in the dark regarding number as a 
property of objects, unless his understanding has in some 
way or other been impressed by the fact in numbering 
them. There can be no reflections without something to 
be reflected from, namely, ideas of sensation, and there can 
be no sensations unless proceeding directly or indirectly 
from sensible objects. Ideas of sense are indeed almost 
material emanations themselves, but from the myriad hues 
they reflect by falling under the prismatic influence of the 
mind, the imagination can realise out of them scenes 
brighter than any presented by nature, and the judgment 
construct an artificial world more complicated, but no less 
real than the natural. Yet the foundation of these thoughts 
and fancies must all rest on the materialism of nature, 
else like the " baseless fabric of a vision" they will vanish 
at the test of reason. The law of gravitation would 
never have been discovered nor become the source of so 
many other discoveries and calculations, had not its in- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 167 

fluence been seen in operation in some such familiar in- 
stances as the cohesion of dew-drops, or the falling of an 
apple. Such qualities or properties are only known by 
their effects on material substances ; and if the latter had 
not been seen, the former would never have been dreamed 
of. In like manner the student of nature should not take 
for granted the existence of any such principle until he 
has abstracted it by his own observation. His faith will 
rest most securely upon the evidence of sense, and he will 
penetrate much farther into the unseen world of abstrac- 
tions by standing upon the eminence of nature. The 
mind must lay the foundation of its thoughts deep in 
sense before it can raise a tower of observation high 
enough to obtain glimpses of things spiritual. 

Thus, then, for a child to be set to count up fifty or a 
hundred, to add, subtract, multiply, and divide so many 
sounds and figures, without having first associated these 
with realities, is an attempt to climb without a ladder, or 
fly without wings. Unless found to be the names of the 
numbers of his fingers, balls, marbles, or other familiar 
objects, the shapes and sounds of the nine digits will be 
shapes and sounds alone, and their combinations on a 
slate, or even in mind, as aimless as a French puzzle. 
The arithmetic of tangible and visible objects should, 
therefore, be among the earliest and most frequent studies 
of a child from his entrance into school, as clear notions 
of number and quantity throw so much light upon other 
branches, and are so well calculated to train and method- 
ize the mental faculties themselves. Its first steps, 
however, should be of the most gradual and easy kind, 
and each new idea worked into the very constitution of 
the mind by repeated examples. The elements of num- 
ber consist of but a very few leading ideas, which it is 
imperative should be clearly understood at the outset, 
that all subsequent combinations may be free from that 



168 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

perplexity which is the necessary consequence of dealing 
with principles not arrived at by an inductive process of 
the mind itself. As the largest volume contains but the 
twenty-six letters of the alphabet, so the most compli- 
cated calculations have only the nine digits and a zero, 
and the most involved process of arithmetical reasoning 
is merely a ramification of units. The system of decimal 
progression, upon which so many of our calculations are 
based, most probably has been suggested by the number 
of fingers on the two hands, and the natural tendency to 
employ them in counting. The student, must, therefore, 
begin at the root of the science, thus, one finger, two 
fingers, three fingers; two fingers and three fingers are 
five fingers, and so on ; these must be his first concrete 
ideas of arithmetic. The objects must be seen in combi- 
nation, and ought to be given before the arbitrary sounds, 
one, two, three, &c. Marbles, buttons, apples, oranges, 
everything that can be seen in combination, may form 
media for impressing these elementary principles. 

The numerical value of money should also be first 
proved by tangible evidence, and farthings, halfpence, 
pence, sixpences, and shillings, seen and handled while 
added and subtracted. Two halfpence in one hand 
placed beside three in the other, make the sum twopence 
halfpenny, and a halfpenny taken out of it leaves two- 
pence. The superior value of silver to copper, and of 
gold to silver, should also be shown by a practical exr 
change. The sum must thus be seen to increase and 
diminish before an idea of addition and subtraction can 
be formed, and the idea must be obtained before there is 
any necessity for giving such names. 

A very appropriate instrument for facilitating visible 
calculations of this nature, has been brought into use by 
Mr. Wilderspin, named the Arithmeticon. It is simply 



PHILOSOPHY OP TRAINING. 169 

a frame, with a certain number of wooden balls, painted 
alternately black and white, which move horizontally 
along the wires on which they are strung. The master 
combines and arranges these by moving them with his 
finger, while the children observe and name the different 
arrangements. Such an exercise gives a reality to the 
ideas of number which thus attach to palpable and 
distinct objects. While the eye rests upon the balls, the 
mind easily calculates the number of them, whereas, in 
absence of such & point d'apjpui, it cannot grasp the same 
amount of combination. The intellect has then nothing 
tangible to compute, and, strictly speaking, computes 
nothing ; or, if forced to make the attempt, it must first 
suggest ideas of objects, and calculate these, which is a 
more complicated process. This principle of object 
calculation is also akin to that which necessity prompts a 
.rude community to adopt. Hence we hear of one people 
musing knotted strings as a calculating apparatus, another 
notched sticks, shells, and pebbles — calculi, from whence 
the term calculation is derived; and even among the 
Roman and Greek mathematicians there was in use an 
instrument very similar to the arithmeticon itself, called 
the Abacus, on which they cast up certain accounts. This 
instrument, of which Mr. Wilderspin seems to claim 
the merit of invention — or at least the Abacus — was in 
familiar use, even in Europe, until a recent period. The 
modern system of notation by the nine digits and a 
cipher, is believed to have been derived from the Indians. 
Through them it descended to the Arabians, and was 
introduced into Europe by the Moors about the begin- 
ning of the eleventh century. 

The Roman Abacus was a board with parallel grooves 
placed perpendicularly, along which the balls or counters 
were moved. The simple value of each ball was one, but 

I 



170 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

it had also a positional value, as our common digits have. 
In an Abacus with a certain number of upright grooves, 
the one to the right expressed units, that next to it tens, 
the next hundreds, the next thousands, and so on. For 
example, the number 31452 would be expressed by two 
balls on the groove nearest the right hand, five balls 
on the one next it, four on the next, one on the next, 
and three on the left hand groove, and any other 
conceivable number might thus be noted according to 
the diiferent arrangement of the counters and number of 
the grooves. It is on the same principle as modern no- 
tation, by which different degrees of unity are expressed 
by different marks, and their values changed by posi- 
tion, and it might approach still nearer to this were 
differently sized or coloured balls employed to denote the 
different quantities of 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. 

The Abacus was used by both Greeks and Romans, 
the latter having borrowed it from the former, and it 
was employed less frequently by the Greeks only because 
their system of notation by the alphabet was more per- 
fect than the figurative notation of the Eomans. The 
science was indeed but little cultivated among the latter 
people compared with what it was among the Greeks. 
Their minds were less adapted to abstract calculations, 
and hence the necessity of this more palpable mode of 
computation. This is, therefore, the same reason that 
renders such means better adapted to the capacities of 
children than to those more advanced in the science. It 
appeals to the eye before the mind, and exhibits some- 
thing calculable before they are required to calculate. 
The chief difference in point of form between the 
Arithmeticon and the Abacus is, that the balls move 
vertically in the latter, and in the former horizontally, 
and in this respect it more resembles an instrument 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. ] 7 I 

in use among the Chinese for the same purpose, 
called the Swanpan, the lines of which are hori- 
zontal like those of the Arithmeticon. But as the 
science advanced among other nations, it outgrew 
these simple expedients, and required methods of compu- 
tation better adapted to facilitate its higher combinations, 
just as children advance from counting objects to mental 
and slate arithmetic. 

Besides the numbering of external objects, a child's 
attention ought early to be directed to their sizes and 
distances, that he may conceive the elementary ideas of 
measurement. This is an easy sequence to number, and 
indeed a practical application of it. He sees one thing 
longer than another, and by the exercise of his eye and 
hand, which also gratifies his bodily activity, he finds 
one thing two or three times larger than another, and 
two or three things that cannot be brought together 
equal to one another, by finding them equal to a third 
or fourth, or by applying a common measure to each. 
The most natural and obvious means of ascertaining this 
he finds to be the parts and members of his own body, 
which he will readily apply in measuring comparative 
lengths and small distances. 

Here again he takes his departure from the same 
point that a primitive people do, and we find that, in 
like manner, the Eomans and many other nations derived 
the ideas and names of measure from the various parts of 
the human body. Digitus, a digit, or finger's breadth ; 
pollex, a thumb's breadth, or an inch ; jpalmus, a hand's 
breadth, or a palm ; pes, a foot ■ palmipes, a foot and a 
hand's breadth ; cubitus, or ulna, a cubit, from, the tip of 
the elbow bent inwards, to the extremity of the middle 
finger; passus, a pace or double step, five feet; gradus or 
gressus, an ordinary pace. Then, again, a pole ten feet 

12 



172 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

long, decempeda, was called jpertica, a perch, changed 
from portica, and that from portare, to carry, because 
carried in the hand for measuring. All these names 
seem so many literary fossils, indicating the first forma- 
tion of the science and the rude elements of which it was 
composed, and also so many finger-posts, pointing out 
the way in which it ought still to be studied. Real 
weights and measures, of all kinds, should be exhibited 
to the pupil ; and linear, square, and cubic inches, feet, 
and yards, quarts, bushels, ounces, and pounds be pre- 
sented, that his eye and hand may be familiarised with 
them, their comparative quantities visibly numbered, 
and their lengths and distances tangibly measured. The 
drudgery of committing to memory unexplained tables of 
all these thus comes to be an entirely superfluous task. 
At least, the whole of their principles may previously be 
worked into the mind by familiar illustrations such as 
those mentioned. 

The next and higher stage beyond this merely visible 
arithmetic, is more exclusively a mental operation, — -that 
is, instead of calculating objects, a numerical combina- 
tion of their ideas takes place. These, however, are 
only sensible ideas, but the numbering of them is a 
reflective process. In the former case, the principles of 
number were gathered from things seen by the natural 
eye ; in this they are applied to effect combinations of 
their pictures in the mind. Number is now made by 
synthesis a property of these ideas, as it was before by 
analysis separated from their archetypes. The science is 
not yet a pure abstraction, but requires the aid of ficti- 
tious representation to become apparent; The mind 
must see something palpable as the materials of compu- 
tation, if the eye does not, before the numbering faculty 
at this stage of development can successfully operate. 






PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 173 

For this purpose, mental questions regarding imaginary 
transactions ought now to be put, and the imagination 
interested in some narrative. This is exactly similar to 
conveying moral instruction by parable and anecdote, in 
which virtue and vice are seen in action, or in teaching 
the elements of general science by analogy and illustra- 
tion. Whereas, to discuss number with a child, in its 
abstract form, is little better than communicating so 
many moral dogmas or scientific formularies without a 
knowledge of their meaning. As, however, in moral 
instruction, precept and parable should be alternated 
according to the mental capacity, so in arithmetic, 
abstract calculations should occasionally intermingle 
with the concrete,, or rather arise out of them. If I have 
three nuts in one hand and four in the other, and give 
away one, how many have I left ? Ans. Six. So then 
it may be added, three and four, less by one, leave six. 
Put eighteen marbles into six bags, in equal numbers, 
how many will there be in each bag ? Three. So six 
into eighteen, three times, and three times six are 
eighteen. It is unnecessary to enumerate more examples 
to illustrate this, as any teacher of the least invention 
may supply them for himself ad infinitum — but the 
principle here mentioned should never be lost sight of, 
namely, that the mind must be withdrawn by the most 
gradual and easy process from calculating objects and 
ideas, and trained to the more abstruse computation of 
•abstractions. 

Many excellent little works have been published to 
facilitate these mental calculations, but so far as I have 
seen, there is none in which the principle here mentioned 
is more fully recognised, than in a small manual by Mr. 
Mc Leod, master of the Normal School at Battersea. 
In this work, based on the Pestalozzian method, the pupil 



1 74 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

is led by the most natural and easy steps, from the table 
of simple units up to very complicated questions on 
simple and compound fractions, proportion of fractions, 
square and cubic measure, &c„ not one of which but may 
be solved by boys of ordinary intellect, before they have 
ever handled a slate or pencil. Nor, indeed, should these 
be put into their hands until they be thoroughly grounded 
in mental calculation. Slate arithmetic bears the same 
relation to mental, that book instruction has to con- 
versational — the latter of which, in both cases, should, 
by a long interval, precede the former. Many long and 
difficult calculations may be made on slate, without an 
understanding of the principles on which they are based; 
just as one may arrange the balls of an abacus, without 
a knowledge of the result of such combinations; or as long 
passages and compound words may also be read, without 
yielding any information. The reason is, that figures 
represent combinations of number, and unless a know- 
ledge of the simple ideas under each has been previously 
obtained, their cipher marks will be as unintelligible as 
unexplained words. The nine digits must therefore be 
analysed into units — multiplication into addition — » 
division into subtraction — and all the ramifications that 
spread out from them traced to their simplest elements, 
before these are classified, named, and marked in a 
synthetic process of slate arithmetic, so as to lay a solid 
foundation for future progress. 

It is, indeed, only when the memory can no longer 
maintain a process of mental combination, that the 
extraneous aid of a pencil and slate is necessary. These 
serve as an artificial memory, enabling the judgment to 
extend its operations inimitably, just as, in composing an 
oration, a continuous train of thought must be fixed 
down in writing, to be again remembered. It is, when 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 175 

the faculty of number has outgrown the memory, that 
the adventitious aid of ciphering is necessary to supple- 
ment the deficiency. When a building gets beyond the 
reach of the human arm, a scaffolding is thrown around 
it, that the edifice may be carried to an indefinite height ; 
so the science of arithmetic, by means of arbitrary 
symbols, has arrived at a height infinitely surpassing the 
longest human memory. The formation of the Roman 
characters may exemplify, in some degree, the synthetic 
process by which even this scaffolding must have been 
erected, as well as the unity of the material out of which 
it all evolved. As the number one is the basis of all 
arithmetical combinations, so is the mark 1, of their 
symbols. In expressing a large number by repeating the 
mark for unity, a classification was made into tens, by 
crossing each tenth mark, which by abbreviation became 
the representative of the whole number X; this being 
halved became V, the mark for the half number of ten. 
C is the initial of centum, a hundred; and M of mille, 
a thousand; the old form of the Roman M was 010, the 
half of which was 10, rounded into D, which stands for 
five hundred; the old form of the Roman C was E, the 
half of which was L, the mark for two hundred and 
fifty ; so that from I, the symbol of unity, all the rest 
were formed thus, I, V, X, L, C, D, M. The principles 
on which other numbers were denoted by these were, 
simply by repeating the same character, and placing an 
inferior character after or before superior ones. Yet, 
whatever may be the nature of this symbolic scaffolding, 
whether the Roman character, the Arabic, or the alpha- 
betic, an abacus, or an arithmeticon, the foundation of 
the science itself rests on the solid basement of reason ; 
and whether it be administered to by an artificial or a 
natural memory, it is only by a combination of the same 



176 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

elementary principles, that consistency can be given to ? 
the fabric. When the memory of the student/ therefore, 
can extend no farther, he ascends this platform of slate 
arithmetic, and carries on his work to the higher regions 
of abstract calculation. Nor, indeed, when he has got a 
slate and arithmetic book before him, ought the master 
to intermit his guidance. Many principles must be 
illustrated, and modes of operation shown, and the pupil 
must see these with his eyes, in model sums upon a black 
board, the master not only telling him how certain things 
should be done, but doing them — not only showing the 
way, but walking in it. 

Writing. — In learning this mechanical art, little or no 
reflection is necessary, but much observation. It is a 
kindred art to that of drawing, if indeed it be not a 
modification of the same ; in both it is the nerves and 
muscles of the eye and the hand that must be educated. 
Simple lessons in drawing should precede those of 
writing. Being accustomed accurately to regard the 
form and position of external objects, as straight lines, 
angles, squares, the pupil should be trained to deli- 
neate these on paper, that his hand may attain to a 
degree of pliancy in holding the pencil, before the more 
delicate operation of guiding the pen. 

This power of observation is in itself capable of vast 
improvement by exercise. When a child is first born 
into the world, and opens those "blue pellucid orbs" of 
his upon the objects of nature, it is only the most pro- 
minent of these, the outlines of creation, that make an 
impression upon him. But, by a lengthened survey, 
minuter things picture themselves upon the retina, and 
still smaller in proportion to the ardour of his gaze. 
Now, as the means of such observation are almost 
infinite, from the rolling planets of heaven to the myriad 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 177 

ghosts of animalcula peopling a drop of water, this faculty- 
must depend for strength and development upon its 
direction towards such phenomena, and its continued 
exercise by the excitement of curiosity. 

Ocular vision, too, is the exact counterpart of mental, 
and a power of visual discrimination, the source of acute 
thinking. The intellect of an unobservant person is 
obtuse, from considering only large ideas, but the wits 
are sharpened by a minute analysis of thought, as the 
eye is improved by a close inspection of objects. Neither 
has a child any idea of distance, until he has tangibly 
ascertained the fact. He must, in some degree, measure 
certain distances by feeling the objects that bound them 
before gaining ideas of such distances ; but having obtained 
these by touch, he infers others by sight, making in a 
manner those first ideas measuring rods of other spaces. 
His ideas of figure are also first gained by touch, and in- 
ferred by sight ; and it seems pretty certain that the eye 
at first receives inverted impressions of objects which the 
experience of touch alone rectifies. Even in mature life, 
the eye occasionally relies for assistance upon the hand, 
and also the hand upon the eye. In an exhibition of 
wax-work one is often tempted to touch certain images 
to see whether they be not really alive ; while in archery 
the experienced eye marks out the distance, and the 
direction of the arrow, before the hand impels it along 
the same path. So that between these two senses there 
is the closest sympathy, each materially aiding the other, 
but also capable of much improvement separately. A 
blind man has the sense of feeling more acute than one 
who sees, because it has been more educated; and a 
sailor can distinguish the character of a distant vessel, 
that to the untrained eye of a passenger would appear but, 
a speck upon the horizon. Imagination also assists the 

13 



178 PHILOSOPHY OF TIKAXNLHG, 

reason, as by partially seeing an object, the fancy can 
often portray the rest of the pictured 

It is, then, upon the principle of this mutual obedience 
of the eye to the hand, and the hand to the eye, that the 
art of drawing and writing depends, hut the attainment 
of skill in either must he acquired by practice alone. In 
the proper direction of this practice, therefore, the same 
rule holds as in the teaching of every other branch, and 
that is to simplify the study by analyzing its materials 
into their elements. In drawing, external objects are 
analyzed, and fragments of them first submitted to 
practice, and when proficiency has been acquired in 
delineating these separately, several parts are drawn in 
combination, and so on to whole outlines and entire 
pictures. So in writing, an equally synthetic process 
is necessary; written characters must be analyzed into 
their elements, and each slope, angle, and straight line 
referred to a particular class, and practised separately. 
In some cases, skeleton diagrams of these are given to 
be filled up, that the hand may be guided into the right 
track, and training lines to sustain the right proportions. 
The pen must be held at the proper angle, and the fingers 
trained to the right position. The fragments of letters 
must also be copied large, that their parts and proportions 
may be better seen, and that the muscles of the hand may 
gain pliancy in executing them. When facility in form- 
ing the different straight lines, curves, and angles has 
been attained, these are next formed into letters, and 
practised in combination. Letters are combined into 
words. Large hand diminishes into half-text, and half- 
text into finished current hand. 

There are of course several modes of teaching these 
principles, but in all cases a black board, with copybooks 
to correspond, and a master's hand to form the characters 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 179 

before the eye, are indispensable. The copyist has thus 
all the means of improvement in writing placed within 
his reach, and in proportion to his care and diligence will 
he excel in the art. Some people smile at the idea of 
teaching writing upon anything like scientific rules, but 
science and invention both have been necessary thus to 
simplify its initiatory principles. The honour of such 
invention is due to M. Mulhauser, of Geneva, whose 
method has been adopted in Germany, in the chief normal 
schools of France, and has lately been introduced into 
the Battersea Training School by Mr. Mc Leod, and 
is or was taught by him to classes of the metropolitan 
schoolmasters in the School of Method assembling in 
Exeter Hall. 



CHAPTER XL 

Geography. — This science gives a description of the 
earth and its contents. It is, therefore, a vastly com- 
prehensive study ; yet its principles can be made both 
easy and interesting to children when taught naturally, 
as it affords the utmost facility for inductive lessoning. 
Every child possesses a certain amount of geographical 
knowledge before any formal lessons can be given to 
him. He knows the locality of his own house, the 
garden or places around it, and the houses and fields 
beyond. He sees the boundaries and divisions of 
hedges and walls defining the properties of different 
individuals. He may have seen a river, a sea, a 
mountain, and an island, different kinds of soils — such, 
at least, as a barren field, a pasture field, and a field of 
corn, with fine weather and stormy, different sorts of 
animals, manufactures, and commerce, and also different 
customs and manners among his neighbours. All these 
circumstances, and many others, gleaned by his own 
observation and a previous course of mental training, 
must be familiar to him, and from this existing knowledge 
all his future discoveries in geography should arise. 
These are the seeds of the science shed upon his under- 
standing by the hand of nature, but requiring artificial 
means to supply them with nourishment, and skilful cul- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 181 

tivation to bring them to maturity. The same principle 
should animate him that inspires the traveller to visit dis- 
tant lands. His curiosity should be excited to know what 
lies beyond the range of his natural observation ; and, as 
far as practicable, this should be gratified by taking him 
short excursions around the vicinity of his home. His 
eye should there be taught to mark the peculiarities of 
nature, and his mind to reflect upon them. From the 
top of an eminence he may observe the extent of a 
parish or a county, with its many natural and artificial 
intersections and boundaries — " its hills and dales, and 
woods, and lawns, and spires" — and thence impress upon 
his mind the first real map of nature. And as he con- 
templates such scenes, a desire will naturally be excited 
to penetrate beyond the sensible horizon that bounds 
his view. His faith in the existence of places beyond the 
range of vision will also be strong, arising out of the 
clear evidence of experience, as the farther he goes from 
home he ever sees new scenes and new objects presenting 
themselves ; and his clear ideas of number applied in 
the mental calculation and measurement of distances, 
will then give him the first general -oppression of the 
earth's vast magnitude. 

Artificial representation must now supplement the 
natural : as a telescope is applied to the heavens when 
the naked eye fails to perceive the distant orbs of space, 
and magnifies their appearance, so, remote countries are 
also brought beneath our eyes by the instrumentality of 
a map or a globe. Yet, that the design of a map may be 
seen as a delineation of nature and read as a picture of 
real places, the same inductive method should be con- 
tinued as before. As the hand of the pupil should, by 
this time, be somewhat expert in sketching, his first 
lesson in artificial geography should be the delineation 



182 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of a map for himself. This, like the expansion of his 
own knowledge, should first be an outline of the simplest 
and most familiar objects and places beneath his view, — 
the room in which he sits, the playground or garden out 
of doors, the neighbouring localities around his dwelling, 
and so on progressively. He will, by this means, fully 
see and know the nature of a map as a picture of the 
earth's surface, as he has formerly been taught the nature 
of words in a book by their reference to objects. And as 
words come to represent the ideas of objects that he has 
never seen but inferred by analogy, so the distant parts, 
that he has never seen, are thus placed before him in a 
book of maps. His desire for such information having 
been previously awakened, he will now gladly avail him- 
self of such assistance and also be able to comprehend 
its use. A map of his own county or country should 
first be placed before him; yet still as a mere outline 
of its most prominent features, not crowded with names, 
but giving a general idea of its natural appearance, 
with its largest mountains, rivers, towns, &c. Several 
countries should be gone over in the same way by 
skeleton maps and conversational instruction. From 
these smaller natural and political divisions, the eye 
and the mind should gradually expand over its larger 
features until they embrace a knowledge of the vast 
continents and oceans of which the entire globe consists. 
Nor should his physical knowledge be bounded by our 
own planet any more than his moral ideas circumscribed 
by temporal considerations. The earth should appear 
in its proper position as part of the solar system, and the 
elements of astronomy succeed to a general knowledge of 
geography, and naturally evolve out of it. Lessons on 
the globes are a natural sequence to those on maps, and 
many of these principles may now be taught ; but the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 183 

construction of maps upon correct principles, and the 
problems on the globes, depend upon a certain know- 
ledge of mathematics that ought previously to be ac- 
quired, in order to a systematic study and accurate know- 
ledge of these branches. 

Besides this inductive method of leading the mind on 
from place to place until it has embraced the earth's 
surface, like a traveller starting from home to circum 
navigate the globe, the same principle must guide the 
instructor in analyzing any particular locality ; such as, 
from the natural advantages and resources of a place 
its wealth and commercial importance may be inferred, 
or the latter traced to the former. " Physical geography," 
says Dr. Kay in his report of the Training School at 
Battersea, " has been deemed the true basis of all instruc- 
tion in the geography of industry and commerce — which 
ought to form the chief subject of geographical instruc- 
tion in elementary schools. The tutor has first endea- 
voured to convince the pupils that nothing which presents 
itself to the eye in a well-drawn map is to be regarded as 
accidental, — the boldness of the promontories, the deep 
indentures of the bays, the general bearings of the coast, 
are all referable to natural laws. In these respects, the 
eastern and western coasts of England are in striking 
contrast — in appearance, character, and in the circum- 
stances which occasion their peculiarities. The physical 
geography of England commences with a description of 
the elevation of the mountain ranges, the different levels, 
and the drainage of the country. The course, rapidity, 
and volume of the rivers are referable to the elevation 
and extent of the country which they drain. From the 
climate, levels, and drainage, with little further matter, 
the agricultural tracts of the country may be indicated, 
and when the great coal-fields and the mineral veins, and 



1 84 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

beds, the depth of the bays and rivers are known, the dis- 
tribution of the population is found to be in strict relation 
to certain natural laws. Geography taught in this way, is 
a constant exercise to the reasoning powers. The pupil is 
led to trace the natural dependence of facts which, in ordi- 
nary instruction, are taught as the words of a vocabulary. 
Geography, taught in the ordinary way, is as reasonable an 
acquisition as the catalogue of a museum which a student 
might be compelled to learn as a substitute for natural 
history. The intelligent tutor should feel himself bound 
to explain to his pupil the natural dependence of the 
facts which the map presents to the eye. Thus it is easy 
to explain why certain tracts are rich pastures, why others 
are arable ; to account for the climate, productions, in- 
dustry, and commerce of such a county as Lancashire, 
and to read its history in the natural features of its hills, 
valleys, streams, coal-beds, rivers, and western site. Lon- 
don, originally the outport to Europe, now the outport to 
the world, presents a great problem equally instructing 
and useful to work, compared with which the facts of its 
being the capital of England and situated on the Thames 
(ordinarily taught,) are as the cipher detached from the 
numerical power. Its tidal river, carrying vessels into 
the heart of the land, its position in relation to the old 
Norman possession of the conquerors of the country, its 
subsequent position between the commerce of Europe 
and the richest tracts of England, the facilities which, it 
affords equally for commerce with the East and West 
Indies, the resources it derives from the Northumberland 
and Durham coal-fields, without which its prosperity 
would suffer a grievous blow from the rivalry of other 
outports to which coal-beds are readily accessible,- — these 
and a multitude of other considerations, too numerous to 
relate in this place, constitute that lesson in geography 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 185 

which the mention of London suggests. Its very place 
on the map is determined by natural laws of the most 
positive character, and capable of strict definition. 
In like manner, but in more general terms, the great 
streams of our commerce are described and accounted 
for. The colonies of England form the first step beyond 
this country, and beyond a general description of the 
world, and then follow those nations with which we have 
the most intimate commercial connexion. Thus geo- 
graphy is examined in relation to the great commercial 
activity of England and the influence of our industry in 
the Christian civilisation of the world. For the delivery 
of this course of instruction, the present books and maps 
are found exceedingly defective. No good school books 
on geography exist, and the maps at present in use are 
mere outlines, neglecting most of the great features of 
physical geography, which is the basis, first of the 
geography of co mm erce and industry, and then, in a 
natural series, of that statistical and political geography 
which should form a prominent element of the instruction 
given in schools for the middle classes." 

It will be observed that such a course of geography is 
entirely of a practical character, and it is the report of a 
school for the middle classes ; but the very same principle 
and the same method ought to be followed in every school, 
up to this point. And even in a more extensive course, 
and as far as the study is carried, the same view to 
practical utility and the same principles of induction 
should be sedulously adhered to. 

History. — Much of this may be taught incidentally, 
during a course of geography. The latter has, indeed, 
been called the eyes of the former, as in reading history, 
unless one sees in his mind, or on a map, the particular 
places where certain events happened, many of their 



186 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

details must be unintelligible. Geography presents to 
view the theatre and scenery of the world, and history 
introduces the actors upon the stage. Such is the order 
of nature, too, for the world was prepared for the recep- 
tion of man before he was created to enter upon its pos- 
session. Geography, for this and other reasons, should 
therefore be taught antecedently to history, and the 
latter postponed to a maturer age. 

The ordinary way of teaching it indeed, may be 
entered upon at any age, as it is little more than a mere 
effort of memory, recalling lists of kings, battles, civil and 
ecclesiastical rebellions, the overthrow of governments 
and dynasties, with the rise of new ones, without descend- 
ing to a nation's social and moral aspect, and deriving 
thence lessons beneficial for individual and national 
practice. Such a method, even when understood — which 
it seldom is — gives the merest outline of a nation's phy- 
sical character. It is like studying geography by merely 
looking at the prominent features ,of the earth's sur- 
face, without considering its internal resources, and the 
adaptation of these to the service and benefit of the 
human race ; or expecting to find from the description 
of an individual's bodily appearance, those mental and 
moral characteristics that; alone constitute the worth and 
excellence of man. 

There is much, no doubt, in the narrative parts of 
history that finds a ready access to the sympathies and 
understandings of children; — as the excitement of battles, 
the hardships and perils of armies, the bravery of indi- 
viduals, and the shock of war. But in a moral point of 
view, it is very questionable whether such descriptions 
should be read before the mind has acquired penetration 
enough to ascertain the causes and necessity of such 
contests. The combativeness of our nature is easily 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 187 

evoked by such means, and hatred and revenge against 
another people, whom we call an enemy, are the sure 
consequences of its undue excitement. These feelings, 
when much indulged, may be easily abstracted from a 
hostile nation and manifested towards individuals, on 
occasion. To commit such reading into the hands of a 
child, therefore, without explaining the dire necessity of 
war only in extreme cases, is holding up to him a mirror 
reflecting the worst features of humanity, and uncon- 
sciously alluring him to copy such in his own conduct. 
The terms in which such deeds are recorded, too, have 
a pernicious tendency in captivating the young mind. 
Children who have seen a regiment of soldiers, arrayed in 
all the paraphernalia of dress and equipage, performing 
their marches and evolutions, amid the glitter of arms 
and the rolling strains of music, cannot but be delighted 
with the magnificent spectacle, and have their sympathies 
favourably enlisted. They cannot penetrate beneath the 
gilded surface and scan the purpose of so much display ; 
and when they peruse accounts of battles and victories, 
couched in equally dazzling terms, the mind is also 
seduced from the horrors of those scenes that must have 
previously been enacted, or even led to regard the strife 
of the combatants with eager delight. But the same 
principle of animalism would be gratified only in an 
inferior degree by the details of a pugilistic encounter, 
or a cock-fight. Such accounts administer fuel to the 
latent animal passions, and awaken the instinct of imi- 
tation, prompting to give vent to them on the first oppor- 
tunity. It is long before a child sees any ulterior end 
to be gained by such engagements, beyond the mere 
gratifying of passion; and until he sees them in thek 
true nature he should not be indulged with many 
.details of them. He should be taught to look upon 



188 PHILOSOPHY OF TEATNING. 

them rather as the terrible effects of misguided passion, 
avarice, and pride. 

The causes for such a dire necessity as that of war, 
should be inferred from familiar examples, such as the 
defence of ourselves and property and the lives and pro- 
perties of our neighbours, the advantages of social 
union in cases of danger, the abandonment of self- 
interest to promote a general good, and, as the highest of 
all sacrifices, the exposing and laying down of life for 
the service and benefit of others. Thus may the devotion 
of an army or navy be seen in a general sense — as the 
defence of the institutions of a country ; but it is a more 
difficult task to reconcile most of the individual wars and 
battles of a nation with the principles of humanity and 
justice. Too many of these originate in the mere caprice 
of a monarch, the grasping ambition of a conqueror, or a 
nation's desire for aggrandisement. 

To read history aright, therefore, it is equally necessary 
to point out the errors and defects which adhere to a 
national character, as in biography to show the vices and 
crimes which blend with the better qualities of an indi- 
vidual. History is, indeed, but the biography of the 
universal man, whose vices and virtues are the aggregate 
vices and virtues of individuals. The morality or im- 
morality of a nation's acts is, therefore, the same in kind 
as that of an individual's, though varied in degree accord- 
ing to the extent and consequences of such acts. But 
how differently are people accustomed to regard the same 
action done collectively and individually ! To take away 
the life of a fellow- creature, even in self-defence, is viewed 
with considerable disgust ; but when an invading army 
is cut to pieces, it becomes a theme for glory and exulta- 
tion. One stands aghast at the perpetration of a single 
murder, but calmly reviews the carnage of a battle-field, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 189 

where thousands fall ; and while a petty theft or burglary 
is regarded with due abhorrence, the conquest of a terri- 
tory is hailed with delight. The individuals who figure 
in such enterprises, too, are lauded as heroes and covered 
with rewards and honours, while the private assassin or 
robber is deservedly execrated and punished. But the 
principles of virtue and vice are of universal extent, and 
bend not thus to the conventional policy of nations. If 
the solitary robber must be amenable to a higher Jaw 
than the desires and passions of his own mind, in the 
law of his country, so should the legislators and govern- 
ment of a country recognise in all their proceedings the 
eternal decrees of justice and morality. Necessary it is, 
therefore, in teaching history, to guard against iudulging 
too much in those details of bloodshed and misery so 
thickly bestrewing its pages, lest the mind become ani- 
malised by such representations, and blinded to the 
fearful criminality of war. 

The question, then, is, how should history be studied ; 
and that is a question perhaps more easily answered nega- 
tively than affirmatively. There are no proper school- 
books of history, and there can be none without giving 
many a dark picture of humanity. Yet, as in the cha- 
racter of the basest individual there are generally some 
redeeming points worthy of our imitation, so in the his- 
tory of nations, tarnished as it is with so many foul 
deeds, numberless examples of the highest virtues are 
yet to be found. It is not, however, among the kings and 
great men of the earth that such instances most frequently 
appear ; and a nation's greatness and true glory may as 
often be traced to the combined operations of the hum- 
blest individuals of the community, as to those of its 
governments and rulers. These are but the results of a 
nation's welfare and prosperity ; the outworks and em- 



190 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

battlements thrown around society for its defence and 
security, but depending no less for their stability upon 
the skill and industry of those who erected them, than 
the nature of the materials of which they are composed. 

Now inductive teaching leads the mind to trace 
consequences to their minutest causes. It does not 
merely tell of the existence of the vast coral reef, but 
shows the nature of the insect's operations, and, from 
less to more, deduces the principles upon which the 
mighty structure arose. It analyzes the towering oak 
into the gases and juices of which it is composed, and 
mentally arranges them into the huge trunk and wide- 
spreading branches. It also resolves the greatness, wealth, 
power, talents, and goodness of individuals into the 
operation of minute causes and the diligent application 
of the smallest means. It shows the genius of a New- 
ton expanding by the direction of its incipient energies 
to the little machines he constructed when a boy, and the 
keen scrutiny he bestowed upon the commonest occur- 
rences to find out their causes, and from thence deriving 
those data upon which future discoveries were based, thus 
laying the foundation of almost the entire fabric of the 
modern sciences of optics ; and astronomy. It shows the 
active benevolence of a Howard receiving its first impulse 
when he lay a prisoner upon the cold stone floors of 
his miserable dungeon at Brest, and the sympathy he 
there felt for his fellow- sufferers carried into action 
in the representations he made to the English govern- 
ment, the comfortable cottages and schools he built on 
his own property for the poor, and the long journeys 
he undertook to ascertain the state of jails in his own 
and other countries, till at length an entire reform of 
prison discipline was effected throughout Europe. The 
success of individuals in every department of life, may be 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 191 

equally shown to be the result of care and diligence in 
small things ; and in all such biographical notices, ex- 
amples are given how we, too, may benefit ourselves and 
others. So in history, or universal biography, unless it 
be taught inductively, it cannot become a practically 
useful study. It gives the experience of the past for the 
guidance of the future, but unless the causes of a nations 
prosperity be shown, it cannot afford to us a practical 
lesson for our guidance. There is little use in teaching a 
mere number of facts and statistical details of kings and 
governments, wars and conquests, with the rise and fall 
of states and dynasties, unless the causes of such events 
be also shown, and their beneficial or prejudicial conse- 
quences upon society traced. To teach history in any 
other way is merely to know a nation as it is or has been, 
while the true object is to know how it became so, that 
the same means may be again employed or avoided to 
gain prosperity or avoid adversity. 

The same illustration of method might be continued 
through all the other branches of study, as well as the 
preceding. I have merely taken up these few, as being 
common to almost all classes of schools : in places where 
the elements of modern science are taught, improved 
plans of teaching have naturally followed their adoption. 
Into a general knowledge of these sciences, however, 
and the best plans of teaching them, must the student 
at a normal institution be also initiated. 

But a still further knowledge of his art is necessary, than 
a mere acquaintance with this its instrumentary practice. 
He must have, no less, an acquaintance with the object 
upon which his art has to be applied. He must have an 
acquaintance with the principles of mental and moral 
philosophy and physiology, and be a deep student of 
human character, from his own observation of which he 



192 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

must deduce his own principles of guidance, that he may- 
be able to accommodate and modify his normal lessons 
to every variety of character presented to him. No 
teacher is able, nor, if able, ought to tie himself down 
to carry out the same details of any system in all cases. 
These must be left to be regulated in an infinity of ways, 
by the ever-varying circumstances of the pupils. There 
is no universal gauge for human intellect. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The preceding analysis lias been chiefly confined to an 
inquiry into the nature of the instruments of education, 
their fitness for the work, and the manner in which they 
ought to be applied, or are misapplied. And on the whole 
it may be subjoined, that, until lately, they were seldom 
if ever found engaged upon the right part of the work, or 
if so, adequate to it, which indeed is but an inference 
from the fact, that the operators themselves were un- 
taught and inexperienced artists. Let us now shortly 
examine the nature of the work to be done by these instru- 
ments, — the subject to be educated by these branches. 

Suppose, then, a sculptor got into his hands a block 
of marble fresh from the quarry, and that it was his 
design to operate upon it in forming an image, he would 
first naturally examine into the nature of the material 
itself. He would see whether there were any blemishes 
or deficiencies in the mass. If there were, he would 
scrutinise the nature of them, and ascertain how far they 
might be repaired or dressed over, so as not materially to 
mar the image he had in view to make. He would test 
the hardness or softness of its grain, and discover its 
capability of being wrought, and according to the nature 
of its stamina would he consider what instruments could 
best be brought to bear upon it; if of a hard and difficult 

K 



194 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

texture, he would use keen-edged tools and apply more 
strength, — if soft, more dexterity of hand. Besides, 
according to that member of the statue on which he was 
engaged, would he require a particular kind of instru- 
ment. To rough-hew the amorphous mass, he would 
apply the larger and less highly-polished tools : to 
chisel out an arm, or a leg, differently edged instruments. 
To carve a neck, a chin, a cheek, and an eye, around 
which "all the graces might flutter," more delicately 
polished and finer instruments still; and at this part of 
the process, his own ingenuity and skill would be taxed 
to the utmost, in giving a peculiar expression of character 
and countenance, according to the model of some image 
he had in his eye. And it need not be added, that not 
only according to the native excellence of the material,, 
but the artist's skill, would be the perfection of that 
character, and the general elegance and grace of the 
statue. 

This block of marble, then, brought to the studio, is 
a child sent to school ; the sculptor is the trainer, and 
the instruments for operating upon him are the different 
branches of education. It is a human being, naturally in a 
rude and inert condition ; yet having the germs of all those 
faculties in perfect existence, each in its degree, by which 
he may ultimately attain so high a rank in the scale of 
creation. To call forth these into full activity and 
energy, and to add grace and refinement to their practical 
uses, is the office of a trainer. Now, as the external 
appliances of art were necessary in the case of the statue, 
otherwise it would still have remained a shapeless mass, 
so also must care, attention, and proper means be em- 
ployed, to develop and bring out the latent faculties of 
the living image. True, these would grow of themselves 
to a certain extent, and in a certain direction; yet without 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 195 

'extrinsic and guiding influences, they would naturally 
'■ exhibit the rankness of a wilderness, whereas by proper 
artificial guidance, they might be compared with the 
bloom and fertility of a garden. 

Thus much every one admits, and while it is also 
granted, that " the proper study of mankind is man," it 
is not so easily decided what man is, what are the 
separate elements of his constitution, and consequently 
how that study should be conducted. It cannot, indeed, 
be said, that the study of man has been neglected. His 
bodily powers and spiritual faculties have been the 
subject of investigation almost since time began. But 
no results, corresponding to such labours, have yet been 
obtained from the erroneous methods of inquiry ever 
adopted. Like other sciences, man's nature was examined 
hypothetically, rather than analytically. Theories were 
assumed, and attempted to be solved by facts, instead of 
facts being made the basis of correct opinions ; and until 
the principles of inductive philosophy were applied in 
the analysis, but comparatively few sound conclusions 
were ever obtained. Scholastic logic and metaphysics 
exhausted their weapons of argument in splitting his 
thoughts and sentiments, his powers and capacities, into 
fragments innumerable, out of which many systems of 
abstract philosophy arose, gratifying, perhaps, to the 
speculative mind to investigate, but shedding a very dim 
and imperfect light upon the practical moralities of life. 
The science of mental philosophy is, therefore, still in its 
infancy. The late discoveries in chemistry, indeed, with 
the revelations of anatomy, have thrown much light on 
the material organs of the body, and an onward progress 
of discovery is still making with regard to his mental 
powers. And it is only by a continuation of a similar 
process, that the anatomy of mind will lead to any sound 
K2 



196 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

results. Man must be regarded as an animal, before 
examined as a rational being — as a material agent before 
an immaterial. In anatomy, the student first operates 
upon the larger features of the human frame, the osseous 
and muscular systems, and by degrees pursues his 
inquiries into the minuter ramifications of the nerves 
and blood, with all their wondrous mechanism and func- 
tions ; and alike must the mental student first regard 
the more obvious functions of the mind, and from what 
is known of these, and palpable to observation, ascend to 
its more spiritual operations. It seems, indeed, to be at 
the point where anatomy and physiology fail in the 
scrutiny for want of data, that mental philosophy, 
guided by other light, prosecutes the search. Anatomy 
discovers effects from their causes, functions from their 
organs, and when no more organs are seen, the investi- 
gation drops ; but mental philosophy, though equally 
inductive, traces effects back to their causes, the thoughts 
to a thinking power, and that power to a bodily organ. 
The latter science, however, is unquestionably based upon 
the former, and arises out of it ; consequently, a consi- 
derable knowledge of the corporeal frame is necessary 
to ascend into the higher regions of thought and feeling. 
But in this department of the human constitution, there 
is still a "terra incognita" over which fancy and conjec- 
ture alone hold sway. It is, therefore, natural to expect 
that much difference of opinion will prevail, regarding 
certain modes of educing those powers and faculties, the 
separate existence of which is not acknowledged by all. 
That the mind and the moral powers are affected and 
controlled by the brain to a certain extent, all admit ; but 
that each of the mental faculties has a separate section 
of the brain as its appropriate organ, is a doctrine pecu- 
liar to phrenology. To take the still popular view of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 197 

•the- ease, then, there are faculties of different kinds 
belonging to the whole constitution of man. Many of 
these, from a similarity in their modes of operation, may 
be referred to the same origin, namely, that which is 
strictly called mind; others, having functions also peculiar 
to themselves, are denominated moral and religious 
feelings ; while a third class, having reference more 
particularly to the powers of the body, are styled physical 
faculties. This triple division of man is now used by 
all— ^phrenologists and anti-phrenologists, under the terms 
physical, mental, and moral, and as there is no other com- 
mon ground on which all parties can meet harmoniously, 
it is so far a good thing; and it may also be added, that, 
standing, upon this platform, many an opponent of the 
science of phrenology has plucked and appropriated 
much of its fruit, even while denouncing the science itself. 
Without expressing an opinion on either side, therefore, 
I shall take the liberty of assuming the same common 
ground. 

Yet, while the general correctness of this three-fold 
division may be admitted, it is no less certain that the 
boundary line between each department is far from being 
clearly ascertained, and much more obscure is the demar- 
cation between many of the separate faculties themselves. 
" Shade unperceived so mingles into shade," that, like a 
ray of light falling upon a prism, by which the eye obtains 
a view of its several colours without perceiving a clear 
distinction between them, this triple view of man, while 
it in some degree unfolds his separate powers, gives but 
an imperfect view of his whole nature. And the reason 
is simply to be found in the absolute unity of that 
nature, however complicated its organism, and various 
its faculties. 

Another important division of man is, that of his 



198 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

action and passion — feeling and exercise. Man acts and' 
is acted upon by external causes through all his faculties. 
The knowledge of a mere opinion existing in the mind 
of another regarding him, will inflict the liveliest feel- 
ing of pain or joy, while the outward action of his own 
mind will produce a corresponding effect upon others.. 
An east wind will make him fretful and irascible; a 
cloudy day melancholy and sad; a glow of sunshine 
will awaken bright hopes and prospects within himself, 
and prompt to the performance of benevolent actions 
towards his fellow-men, and this to an extent of which 
few people are aware. It is, therefore, no untrue state- 
ment, that " man is the creature of circumstances ;" the 
proposition only wants conclusiveness by omitting to add, 
that these circumstances are also the creatures of God. 
Now, for a grown individual to fortify himself against 
these and all other contingencies is self-imm'mg, proceed- 
ing from a knowledge of their nature and effects. But a 
child cannot know anything of external nature, and is, 
therefore, a mere passive subject, moulded and modified 
according to their plastic influences.- Hence the neces- 
sity of a preventive discipline to ward off their evil 
effects, and the application of a fostering hand, to bring 
to perfection those inherent preventive qualities — those 
antidotes that are in embryo in every human being. And 
a more beautiful link in the chain of Providence does not 
exist, than where the affections of a mother are called in 
at this point to fill up the gap. How unfortunate is. it, 
therefore, for the well-being of the human race, that these 
natural affections are so often cramped and turned aside 
by her own artificial education and habits!; She is 
nature's own statuary, who alone can throw a sufficient 
enthusiasm into her labours; for with her it is all a 
labour of love, and were this love and enthusiasm always 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 199 

directed aright, the statue, in time, would arrive at the 
acme of human perfection. But to the task of training 
her offspring she brings the prejudices of her own early 
nurture; the secret promptings and desires of her heart 
must he kept in abeyance to the omnipotent dictates of 
fashion ; her very love and enthusiasm must be moderated 
=and chilled into coldness, and the image rises under her 
iands a model of fashionable manners and breeding, per- 
haps, but as far removed from the simplicity of nature, as 
a, caricature from a correct picture. And what a false 
idea it is to imagine that a parent can spoil her child by 
too much love and affection. It is the very atmosphere 
the child breathes, and upon which its moral nature 
depends for life and health — the sunshine of a summer 
day to a delicate flower, compared with the bleakness of 
winter ; and the advantages of affection to the former are 
scarcely less physical than warmth to the latter. Such, 
indeed, are the appliances by which the moral character 
of the child first assumes a definite shape — and, like the 
statuary guiding his hand according to the nature of his 
material, so must the parent her affections^ but enlight- 
ened and guided by reason these must be ever at work, 
to mould and fashion that moral character aright. 

To produce a perfect image in statuary, too, all the 
members of the figure must be perfect. No leg, nor arm, 
nor eye, must want its appropriate chiselling. So is it in 
the compound living image man, who requires an education 
suited to the development of all his powers — physical, 
mental, and moral. It is, therefore, the province of the 
trainer to operate upon each of these in yielding assistance 
to nature. Figuratively speaking, they must be drawn 
out, and as the sculptor, out of his previously unshapen 
material, develops the features of a countenance, so must 
a character be engraven upon the child by means of 



200 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

its own inherent but passive faculties. Each and all 
of them must receive attention, must be exercised upon 
legitimate objects, and brought into healthy action, 
before the whole man can be said to have received an 
education. 

The pedestal, then, upon which the whole living image 
is based, and out of which its character and habits all 
evolve, consists of the bodily powers, and these conse- 
quently are the first to demand the attentive examination 
of the trainer. It is not intended here to enter much into 
the subject of nursery training, as that has been anticipated 
in a previous part of this work; which, too, is rather the 
province of the medical than of the scholastic profession ; 
but unquestionably, with a knowledge of the bodily wants 
of children, a nurse ought to have some acquaintance in 
developing the mental and moral dispositions of her 
charge, otherwise the school trainer will have much to 
undo before commencing his task. 

The end and object of physical training is simply to 
secure a sound and healthy body ; but it has other con- 
sequences depending upon it, for without a sound and 
vigorous frame, the mind will also assume a correspond- 
ing tone of unhealthiness. On the mother and the nurse, 
therefore, devolves this earliest duty. And it is not 
enough that kindness and affection be brought to the 
task ; a certain knowledge of the human frame must 
guide the mother in all her treatment. When it is esti- 
mated that about two-fifths of young children die before 
attaining their fifth year, there is a pretty sure indication 
that some part of the nursery system is wrong in all 
cases. And in many instances, the most careless observer 
cannot fail to see the cause of much of this infantile 
mortality. The pernicious custom of giving children 
alcoholic drinks, careless exposure to cold and heat, im- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 201 

proper food, and light or improper clothing, are hut a few 
of these causes. Nor ought the hahits of the nurse to 
he less attended to, as these are the fountains whence 
spring so many of the child's hahits, and, like a baro- 
nieter indicating the state of the weather, the health of 
her constitution may in a great degree point out that of 
the child. And whatever injures or benefits the former, 
has a corresponding influence upon the latter. 

" For the due development of the muscular system of 
an infant, its dress should sit light and easy upon its 
person, and its limbs should he allowed free play on 
all possible occasions. The restless movements of an 
infant, the tossing about of its head, arms, and limbs, 
are to be considered as merely impulses of nature, 
directing it to exercise, and in consequence strengthen 
its muscular system. These movements should rather, 
therefore, be encouraged than repressed. Care should 
be taken that it is not too soon allowed to bear its own 
weight, as the natural consequence is bending the still 
soft bones of the leg, which may thus become deformed 
for life. Whenever a child of proper age is unable to 
bear its own weight, or walk without this effect following, 
we may be sure that its general health is defective ; and 
it is a more immediate and pressing duty to take mea- 
sures for remedying this effect than to attempt to keep 
the limbs straight by mechanical appliances. 

<s The work of physical education must go on till the 
body is brought to the highest perfection of which its 
powers are capable. For this purpose, the skin, the 
lungs, the digestive organs, and the muscular system, 
ought each to have a proper share of attention. There 
must also be a due supply of fresh and pure air, a 
regulation of the appetite for food, and exercising of the 
muscular frame. Under this latter head, falls all the 

K3 



202 PHILOSOPHY OF TEAINING. 

science of exercise — walking, riding, running, leaping, 
swinging, skating, dancing, fencing, cricket, ball-play, 
&c. The importance of these to health in the full 
development of the muscles and improvement of the 
frame, has been long known, and by some nations 
steadily practised. The perfect forms of the Greeks 
and Persians were the result of this branch of education, 
and received a large share of national attention. Ample 
provision for such exercises should be made in all semi- 
naries of education, infant and more advanced."* 

But a higher object than mere physical development 
is gained by such exercises. Every one admits that a 
certain influence is exercised upon the mind by the body, 
and the more closely the subject is examined, the con- 
nexion will appear the more striking. The flame of a 
candle is, indeed, not more dependent for its strength and 
brightness upon the volume and purity of the materials 
supporting its combustion, than the mental and moral 
conduct of children upon their bodily frames, and pre- 
paratory physical training. Nor is this at all strange, 
when it is considered that the mind is not only dependent 
upon the body for its manifestations, but its acquirements, 
— not only for fulfilling its desires, but creating them. 
Every idea communicated to the mind from without, is 
admitted by one or other of the senses ; and every idea 
conceived by the mind, passes without, also by the aid 
of a material organ. It is evident, therefore, that an 
injury to any one of the senses, will prevent the admis- 
sion of knowledge to a certain extent ; and to the same 
extent disintegrate the unity of the mind's operations, 
lessen its exercise, and weaken its powers. The more 

* Chambers. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 203 

of these avenues of sense that are shut up, the scantier 
will be the mind's acquirements, and its growth and 
operations correspondingly retarded. 

Different only in degree is it, then, that an impaired 
condition of these bodily organs, prevents the mind's 
growth and development, by presenting to it for reflec- 
tion, incorrect or insufficient images of external objects. 
Or the same evil may be induced by a perversion of their 
uses ; an undue excitement of them, or a neglect of 
their exercise, Thus, sensations proceeding from ex- 
ternal causes, may affect the mind disagreeably and 
prejudicially, from the diseased channels through which 
they pass. 

But many of our sensations, also, arise from the 
internal organs as well as external objects, and these, if 
the organs be impaired or excited, may be as injurious to 
the mind as the former. When any one drinks a certain 
quantity of intoxicating liquors, the circulation of the 
blood is quickened, the vessels of the brain are com- 
pressed, pleasurable sensations arise, and the mind be- 
comes more rapid in its thoughts and conceptions; an 
additional quantity of alcohol will induce upon the mind 
a temporary madness, or entirely suspend its operations 
in sleep. The reaction again from such a state of 
mental activity, is a corresponding listlessness, and slow- 
ness of conception, equally the result of sensations 
proceeding from a state of nervous relaxation. These 
different mental conditions obviously enough proceed 
entirely from bodily causes, but a vast number of other 
frames of mind, less perceptible, are equally produced by 
impressions proceeding from the bodily frame. These 
states of mind, therefore, may be induced and become 
habitual either by organic and constitutional diseases, 



206 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

to and from the brain and spinal cord, which serve the 
purpose of communicating motion to the muscles and 
hones. Still these are hut the messengers or media of 
conveying the moving power, which itself resides in the 
spinal cord, a prolongation of the brain. But though 
that power resides there, the brain is of itself equally 
inert with the bones, and cannot evoke this influence 
without an exercise of volition — that mysterious principle 
of the mind which seems the presiding deity over the 
whole temple of the body. A natural sequence to this 
inquiry is, What then influences the will ? and it is affected 
by foreign causes, but it is not necessary at present to 
trace the connexion farther. 

Speaking metaphorically, then, when the will desires to 
accomplish a purpose, it lays an injunction upon the 
brain, which conveys the order to the nerves, and these, 
communicating with the muscles, immediately set in 
motion the particular organ required, or the whole body. 
Thus it appears that the entire power of muscular action 
resides in the brain, and is evoked thence by an exercise 
of the will. And when for a moment one reflects upon 
the huge masses of matter set in motion externally to the 
human frame by the same mental impulse, and the 
mighty power for good or evil thus called into action by 
a simple desire of the will, the vast importance of that 
part of education is manifest, which endeavours to antici- 
pate the direction of that power in infancy by regulating 
the desires of the will through a proper attention to a 
child's physical wants. 

The influence mentioned is rendered more obvious from 
a negative view of the case. If the brain be diseased or 
unsound, the will becomes isolated, the former being 
either incapable of transmitting a desire to the nerves, or 
conveys a false impression, by which some foolish or 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 207 

wrong action is the result, as in some cases of insanity. 
When a paralytic person loses the use of his arm, it is 
not because the muscles or the hones are impaired, neither 
is it because the will has no desire to set the limb in 
motion, but there is a chasm between the two; the medium 
of communication is destroyed in some injury done to the 
nerves. And if the muscles or bones of any organ be 
wanting or unsound, the mechanical operation cannot be 
completed, as in the case of an amputated hand, or a blind 
eye. The mind, therefore, has full control over the body 
only when its organism is complete, and according to its 
efficiency or deficiency as an instrument, will be the mani- 
festation and development of its powers. 

Now this imperfection may also exist from a want of 
training the bodily organs into a eo- operation with the 
mind; and this is that vast hiatus in the system that mo- 
dern education aims at supplying. The mind may grow 
in knowledge without gaining in wisdom, may speculate in 
all the sciences without acquiring a single art. It is an 
education of the body alone that renders a man wise and 
skilful, virtuous and active. He must do good to be 
good, paint to be a painter, play to be a musician, 
harangue to be an orator, write to be a writer; and in all 
these and every other art, it is by a training of the 
nerves and muscles of the' appropriate organs that the 
actions come to be well executed. In a word, if the will, 
enlightened by knowledge, first guide to the performance 
of good actions and special arts, it is the performance of 
them that alone stamps the virtuous or the technical 
character, and according to the bodily aptitude for such 
performance will be the perfection of that character. 

But apart from the mental and moral evils resulting 
from an inattention to early physical training, when 
one reflects upon the vast amount of bodily suffering 



208 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

entailed upon a child through life, and often perpetuated 
through several generations, . by the same cause, the 
paramount importance of this fcranch of education is no 
less conspicuous. - Nor are the-few simple rules of health 
so difficult to be observed, that much of that misery might 
not be prevented by proper precautions. The four essen- 
tial elements of health are food pair, cleanliness, and exer- 
cise. A certain quantity of nutritious food is necessary to 
the support, growth, and expansion of the bodily organs. 
If it be insufficient, either in nutriment or quantity, the 
blood is deteriorated, and the system languishes. The 
parent must be guided by medical rules in apportioning 
the amount of nourishment to. the natural wants of his 
child. But its appetite must also be regulated.. For 
this purpose the food should . be supplied at regular 
intervals, that no extraordinary longings after it, or care- 
lessness about it, may arise. Simple and natural kinds of 
food should also lay the foundation of a natural appetite, 
as artificial -and stimulating meats speedily induce a false 
one. It is this false appetite that causes children to eat 
to excess when their food is of a stimulating nature, or 
when thcTappetite is stimulated by various kinds of food ; 
the consequences of which are, an oppression of the 
digestive organs, and a corruption of the blood, laying the 
foundation of a whole train of special diseases, and per- 
manently injuring the digestive powers themselves. The 
same evils result from partaking too frequently or too 
largely of indigestible substances, as pastry, oleaginous, 
dried, and pickled food, much fruit, especially the kernels 
of nuts, &c. ; and of drinks, those containing much 
alcohol should of course never be taken even in the 
smallest quantities. 

There are thus two different kinds of evils to be avoided 
in the regulation of diet, — a pampering and an under gra- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. £09 

tification of the appetite/satiety and inanition. In most 
cases the one springs from the poverty of the parents, and 
is thus almost beyond control; the other is generally the 
result of that blind love of offspring leading a parent to 
grant his child all its desires without reflecting upon the 
ultimate consequences ; and this might easily be remedied 
by a little self-denial, if such parents would consider that 
nothing so certainly spoils children in every sense of the 
term as pampering and satiety. 

Air. — No less necessary is it, that this element inhaled 
into the lungs be pure, than the food taken into the 
stomach nutritious, as both are -essential to- the composi- 
tion and purifying olthe blood, and through it of imparting 
health and vigour to the general frame. The air is only 
suitable for-supporting life^agreeaHy, when a fifth part of 
its composition is oxygen-gas. When it has less, it is 
unable to supply the blood with a sufficient quantity of 
the life-giving principle, which thus becomes impure 5 
generating weakness and disease through the system ; 
and it may still further be contaminated by an admixture 
of unwholesome gases exhaled from refuse substances in 
impure localities, which gases taken into the lungs act as 
a slow poison. Now, in a. crowded room where no con- 
tinuous supply of fresh air is admitted, the requisite 
proportion of oxygen is soon diminished, when every 
breath, that is drawn conveys into the lungs the sure 
elements of disease. . Hence the greater -necessity of ven- 
tilation in crowded places? -and especially schools, where 
children remain so many hours every day. No mental or 
moral instruction can have much benefit upon children 
whose frames have become relaxed and languid from 
sitting in an ill-ventilated and crowded schoolroom. The 
bodily instrument is out of tune y and responds -not to the 
voice of the instructor. The system should at such 



210 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

times be reinvigorated by a run into the open air, and 
braced anew by some muscular exercise. 

Impure air is bad to all ages, but doubly pernicious to 
young children. In grown-up people the system is con- 
solidated, and the organs formed, and though for a time 
it may derange their functions, a change of air may again 
restore these to healthy operation, and the organs them- 
selves be unimpaired. But it is to the very formation of 
these organs in children, that pure air is partly necessary. 
Oxygen gas is the life-giving aliment of the blood, and if 
it be deprived of a due share of this, the organs formed 
out of that blood must be correspondingly undeveloped and 
feeble; not only will their functions be impaired, but 
themselves arrested in growth. To crowd children into 
ill- ventilated schools, therefore, is an untraining and a 
demoralising of them rather than anything else. 

The same principle applies to the vast numbers of chil- 
dren and grown people huddled together in the lanes and 
by-streets of large towns and cities amidst accumulations 
Of filth and every impurity. Not only are the wretched 
houses of such people badly ventilated, but what air gains 
admittance to them comes impregnated with the noxious 
exhalations of the neighbourhood^ carrying the seeds of 
disease and death into their very presence. No less 
necessary, then, is some municipal arrangement for pro- 
viding places of resort in the vicinity of such towns, 
where the pent-up inhabitants might occasionally breathe 
the unadulterated air of heaven, and obtain recreation, 
than a playground and gymnastic exercises for exhausted 
school children. It would open up a safety valve not 
only for the physical diseases, but the crimes of a com- 
munity. These remarks, however, are now trite and 
cognisant to every one ; the great difficulty is to inspire 
directors of schools and guardians of a city with a motive 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 211 

sufficient to impel them to action, in carrying such know- 
ledge into effect. 

The next indispensable element of health is cleanliness. 
Cleanliness of person, dress, and dwellings, is, like the 
former, not only healthful hut moralising. If it is not 
absolutely a virtue, it is, at least, the source of muck 
virtuous conduct. The skin is an organ for cleansing 
the body by carrying off the superfluous and waste 
matter from its internal parts. It is, for this purpose, 
perforated with innumerable apertures, and when kept 
clean and the pores open, there is a constant discharge 
proceeding from them. This may be seen by any one 
putting his finger inside a clear tumbler, or near the 
glass of a window, which speedily-gets dimmed from the 
vaporous exhalations passing through the skin. Now if 
a free exit be not given to this matter, it is thrown back 
upon the other excretory organs ; and to get rid of it 
by other channels these are forced into undue action, 
producing weakness in themselves and communicating 
specific diseases to the vessels of the bowels and lungs. 
Being somewhat of an oily nature, too, this excretory 
matter naturally leaves a deposit upon the surface of the 
pores, and if unremoved the. skin would become in a 
certain degree impervious, not unlike an oilcloth. This 
organ must, therefore, be kept •■ in a fit state to perform 
its functions. It must be bathed and cleansed and 
brushed, that it may be able to effect the same purifying 
office to the rest of the frame. , It is incalculable how 
much disease might be prevented by a proper attention 
to bathing and cleansing the . skin. But how many 
persons actually live on from year to year, and even pass 
through life, without a more general ablution than that 
of the hands and face, and, perhaps, occasionally their 
feet ! Regular baths may not be accessible to all, but 



2-12 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

every one- may have at times an opportunity of .sponging 
the surface of his hody with water and rubbing it, thus 
using the means of bracing the system against the 
attacks of coughs, colds, and other internal complaints, 
besides many of those cutaneous diseases produced by 
the accumulated impurities, of the skin's surface. 

The teeth, ought, also, to be kept?' carefully clean, not 
only for^the sake of appearance but a pressing necessity. 
Those particles of food left upon their surface and 
interstices generate, it is said, animalcules of the coral 
species, which, by raising a crust over .the teeth, cause 
them to decay, producing the severe pains of toothache, 
and in the end their entire loss. Nothing more is 
necessary for cleansing the>teeth than repeatedly brushing 
them with pure water. A similar attention to articles of 
dress is necessary. The perspiration of the skin settling 
down upon the /inner suriace of the clothing and per- 
vading it, accumulates other noxious gases, and impreg- 
nates, to a certain extent, the atmosphere around the 
body. Frequent changes, of dress are, therefore, next in 
order to .personal cleanliness. ,The. same principle also 
applies to the interior and exterior of dwellings. Erom 
the spongy nature of the atmosphere, it draws up exha- 
lations from whatever impurities may be collected in or 
about a house, and from the incessant suction of the lungs, 
these noxious exhalations are almost as certainly, con- 
veyed thither and deposited as the,seeds of disease. 

Nothing, then, but habits of cleanliness will prevent 
such .results* and nothing but a course . of training can 
form such; habits. These may be difficult to acquire 
in. grown-up persons of opposite habits, and, from 
that unwillingness of restraint, and recklessness, pecu- 
liar to children, it may even be to them a troublesome 
task for a time; but it is a necessary part of the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 213 

civilising process of education to overcome such re- 
luctance, and implant in their nature a desire for 
tidiness and cleanliness. This desire would never be 
eradicated, and would go far to secure its possessors 
against a vast amount of physical and moral disorders 
arising from an opposite disposition.- It would make, 
too, the scanty and even ragged garments of the poorer 
children less repulsive to themselves and others, their 
most wretched abodes wear % more smiling aspect; and 
their self-respect increase— forming the basis of other 
higher mental and moral improvements accessible, " in 
some degree, to all. 

Exercise;. — An examination of the mechanical pro- 
perties of the human frame-at once leads to the conclu- 
sion, that action was its proper design. Man's body is 
an instrument, and was therefore intended for use; it 
was made for labour, and is organised accordingly. If, 
then, an overtasking of its powers derange their functions 
and disable them, no less does the rust of inactivity and 
indolence corrode thenu When, therefore, a certain 
amount of labour or exercise is performed, they are kept 
free from disease, and health is the consequence. Unlike 
other instruments, too, the- body is not liable to wear and 
tear by moderate exercise; it is even improved by it. 
A provision which is made to prevent the former is very 
obvious iu examining the joints; "A limb," says Dr. 
Paley, " shall swing upon its hinge-, or play in its socket, 
many hundred times in an hour for sixty years together 
without diminution of its agility." Now two provisions 
are made to prevent the wearing down of the joints bv 
this constant friction ; — first, " by the polish of their 
cartilaginous surfaces, and by the healing lubrication of 
the mucilage." But waste substance is also restored by 
a compensatory process. When a wound is received in 



214 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

any part of the body, the blood accumulates there in 
greater quantities, and by an increased assimilating 
power repairs the damage. In like manner, when a 
healthy muscle is exercised, it stimulates the blood and 
attracts it more towards that part, which thus obtains 
more nourishment than an unemployed muscle, and 
increases in size, strength, and pliability. It reaps the 
fruit of its labours, so to speak, in an increase of substance, 
while another loses even its natural -inheritance by inac- 
tivity. Whatever limb is more exercised than another, 
will also become stronger by an increase of muscular 
energy ; and, consequently, of two persons similarly 
endowed by nature, he whose muscular action is the 
greater will, other things being equal, be the stronger 
and healthier man. Instances of this are abundant. The 
skin upon the soles of the feet is in infancy no harder 
than the palm of the hand, and would continue through 
life so, were they not used in walking. The difference 
in mature life arises from the constant pressure of the 
soles upon the ground ; and it may be added, that the 
heel and fore part of the foot being more pressed upon 
than the intervening arch, are harder than that part. 
Again, the horny palm of a blacksmith was in infancy as 
tender as that of the finest gentleman, and his strong 
brawny arm of no greater thickness and solidity than 
his ; but the grasp and wielding of the huge forge ham- 
mer make a great difference in manhood. Pugilists, 
tumblers, and dancers acquire their superior strength 
and agility by practice alone. The same principle 
applies to the internal organs. Much of the difference 
between a sweet voice and a harsh one is often solely 
attributable to a greater exercise of the vocal organs. 
Demosthenes is said to have overcome even an organic 
impediment by severe exercise. And of Adelaide Kemble 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 215 

. it lias also been mentioned, that her present full-toned, 
mellifluous voice was barely tolerable on her first taking 
lessons. 

The nervous system can likewise be improved by a 
judicious exercise, and this is, perhaps, the greatest 
advantage that physical training can bestow upon chil- 
dren. It is the true source of courage, without a con- 
siderable degree of which, in a world of so much 
temptation, the best moral impulses are soon subdued. 
Cowardice and timidity result entirely from a weakness of 
the nerves. Courage, both physical and moral, spring 
from their strength and tone. In short, all the powers 
of the man simultaneously improve by corporeal exercise, 
though this harmony is promoted in a much higher degree 
by some exercises than by others. 

The mental and moral faculties require an exercise 
peculiar to themselves, in the same way that the different 
bodily organs need a specific training. Bodily exercises, 
therefore, in which the greatest number of the muscles 
can be called into play, are consequently the best for the 
body, and, collaterally, for the mind ; but those which 
engage the mind and feelings, along with the body, di- 
rectly benefit the whole powers. It is the fault of 
modern gymnastics, that they afford no excitement to 
the mind ; and the same objection applies to those 
solemn walks, rank and file, taken by a company of 
boarding-school misses, under the inspection of a go- 
verness. In the latter case the mind is unrelaxed from 
school discipline, and in the former, not occupied. " The 
great desideratum in physical education is a series of 
games of an exciting character, arranged so as to develop 
the different muscles of the body. The mere exercise of 
the muscles, while the mind is inert or averse, is, com- 
paratively, of little value. The efficiency of exercise 



216 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

requires the direction of the attention and the muscular 
effort to the same- point, at the same moment. Most of 
the common sports of children secure this, hut they 
seldom require the operation of more than a particular 
set of muscles. It would he desirable to have games 
which should at once interest, exercise various muscles, 
and keep all the players as active as possible. Foot- ball 
perhaps is one of the best in common use. It keeps a 
whole field in high excitement and action. Ball in a 
fives- court is excellent, but can occupy no more than 
four at the same time. Leap-frog exercises the muscles 
of the limbs and loins in running and jumping, and the 
muscles of the loins and back in supporting. The 
game of battledore- and shuttlecock is excellent for the 
arms and chest, and should be played with both hands, 
not only for the development of the left muscles of the 
thorax, but also for the exercise of the left arm. Cricket 
is a fine game, but there is little continuous exercise, 
except for the striker and the bowler. Prison-base, hunt- 
the-hare, hoops, whipping-tops, are all good, but there is 
obviously required a set of games which with an interest- 
ing purpose, would keep; all engaged in them active, give 
full play to the voice, and call for the exercise of strength 
and activity in all the different muscles. Whoever shall 
supply this want will confer a service of no ordinary kind 
on education."* 

As a means for developing the muscles of the arms and 
upper portions of the body, many schools have a circular 
swing in the play- ground, which is a much better appa- 
ratus than the dumb-bells. Cross-bars and climbing-poles 
are also getting common; and several other means for 



* Prize Essay by John Lalor, A. B., of Trinity College, 
Dublin. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 2 1 7 

performing gymnastics are slowly coming into use. All 
games of chance should be discountenanced, .while those 
requiring skill and dexterity, and particularly such as 
promote the kindly and generous affections, courteousness, 
and forbearance, should be encouraged. The apparatus 
of games, caps, and books, should each have its appro- 
priate place, and be rigidly kept. These, with various 
other details, constitute the physical training of the play- 
ground, or of the few minutes of relaxation between the 
hours of study; and it is, therefore, used both as an end 
and a means. The end for which it is resorted to is to 
establish and promote health, and, consequently, to 
invigorate the mind ; but it is also, as has been seen, a 
very powerful means for aiding in the work of moral 
training. 

And even during the course of giving lessons its aid is 
sometimes needed. Suppose the children getting languid 
over their studies, nothing so much awakens them to 
their duty as some smart simultaneous bodily movement.. 

" Under this head are also included the training to 
cleanliness and tidiness of person, to proper modes of 
walking, and sitting, and running, holding a book or 
slate, and distinct enunciation, both in reading and 
speaking. Physical training is, therefore, the handmaid 
of mental and moral discipline, and is no less necessary 
in the regulation of a school than marching, wheeling, 
shouldering of arms,- and other military evolutions, are 
to the discipline of an army." * . 

Now many of these exercises are not always compatible 
with the mental and moral routine of ordinary teaching 
schools; but it is no less certain that others of them 
ought regularly to alternate with mental studies. Mental 

* Stow. 



fc 218 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

exercise is simply a work of the brain, and that organ 
requires rest and relaxation as well as the overworked 
arms or legs ; with this difference, too, that the danger 
of injuring it is much more fatal in its consequences 
than that of overtasking any other of the physical mem- 
bers. But a vast deal of prejudice must be overcome 
on this point. Children of acute minds, and of a turn 
for study, are eagerly pushed on and encouraged to 
persevere in every sort of intellectual attainment, and the 
brain thus acquires a morbid and restless activity, that, in 
far more cases than people are aware of, hurries its victim 
to a premature grave. Precocity has many different 
stages, and many more children require to be kept back 
in their studies than people think. The sculptor's instru- 
ment must be gently and dexterously applied to the soft- 
grained material, otherwise he may not only mar the 
image, but destroy the material itself. The perfection of 
a school would, therefore, be a proper blending together 
and alternating of mental, moral, and physical exercises, 
in which each of these three faculties should be exercised 
upon its appropriate objects. But until very lately the 
latter of these was never thought of as entering into a 
course of education, and forming a component and neces- 
sary part of it. And even yet, many people passing a 
school during some few minutes of relaxation, and hear- 
ing the merry shout and laugh of the temporarily eman- 
cipated inmates, go away with conclusions anything but 
favourable to such an institution. A play- ground or a 
large hall is, therefore, an indispensable appendage to a 
training seminary. It is the physical schoolroom, the prin- 
cipal element there communicated should be the pure air 
of heaven, and the chief study pursued, how best to expand 
the muscles and brace the nerves. In the regulation of 
the plays and amusements of children, no little skill 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 219 

and experience are necessary. They are indeed the best 
judges of what games are best adapted to their own 
amusement, but unless a superintendent watch the progress 
of the players, and minutely inspect their conduct towards 
one another in some of their games, much moral evil may 
be the result. It is unquestionably here that moral, no 
less than physical, training has its most powerful influ- 
ence. The native character of a boy, sitting at his 
lesson and more formally under the eye of the master, is 
more veiled, the child is more on his guard. But at 
play all reserve is thrown aside, and the genuine feelings, 
whether good or the reverse, are brought into action. 
Thus many habits and tendencies, both good and evil, 
are discovered, which could never otherwise be found out, 
and opportunities afforded for correcting the one, and 
calling forth the other. But at play how seldom is it, 
on the whole, that the bad feelings gain the ascendency ! 
The natural desire is to please and be pleased, and the 
generous affections are thus called into exercise, and 
nourished by the natural warmth of their own action. 
Compared with mere preceptive morality, the virtuous 
emotions of the heart are as much more improved 
and awakened by this natural training, as the natural 
warmth of the body produced by exercise is superior to 
that obtained by artificial means. 

But to sympathise with children in these sports requires 
no less an undoing process of a teacher's own staid 
habits and sedate manners, than to descend to their level 
intellectually. The buoyant sallies of youth and child- 
hood are in general far from being in harmony with his 
own quiet pursuits and tastes, and in order to gratify 
his ease, a sacrifice must be made too often of those 
innocent and necessary enjoyments. But it is this unjust 
restriction, without doubt, that in numberless instances 
L2 



220 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

lays the foundation of premature disease and death. 
Healthful amusements and bodily activity, even to weari- 
ness, are as necessary to the preservation of health, as 
food and air are to the preservation of life itself. At 
the same time, it is no less indispensable that the 
exuberant spirits of some children be restrained and 
softened down, for as certainly as the denying of their 
innocent gratification will superinduce an unhealthy 
frame, so will their unguided indulgence luxuriate into 
acts of mischief and wickedness. But this is just the 
province of a trainer, whether he be a master or a parent. 
Many writers and teachers allege the necessity of 
making instruction altogether a matter of amusement. 
In support of this idea, too^ much stress has been 
laid upon what has been conceived to be the original 
intention of schools among the Komans and Greeks. 
Pliny indeed uses the phrase ludus liter arius, or a literary 
amusement, for school ; and the Greek word axoXrj, 
whence our own word is translated, signifies ease or 
leisure; but the truth is, there must be a combination of ex- 
ertion with relaxation in mental pursuits as well as bodily^ 
to secure a healthy tone to the powers of either. This 
seems, therefore, to be an idea more pleasant in theory 
than practical in effect. The acquisition of knowledge as 
an abstract proposition, is doubtlessly a pleasure ; and 
every facility for acquiring that knowledge ought to be 
afforded. But that school studies in all cases can be 
made a mere amusement is simply impossible. Habit 
may render them so, but this habit must first be acquired, 
and a certain amount of moral inertia overcome in most 
cases, which is anything but a pleasurable task either to 
the teacher or the taught. The more philosophic view 
of the matter is simply to initiate the pupil by easy 
Stages in the business of his education, as an artist 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 221 

or mechanic in his trade. If fair means be then 
employed, there is no doubt of a sufficiently studious 
bias being given to the mind; but if study be not relieved 
by play, or be continued too long at one time, or be 
of a nature in itself repugnant to the young mind, 
a taste for it never will be acquired, and never ought 
to be acquired ; which is just one of the wise provi- 
sions of nature, in which any process of forcing ever 
defeats its own purpose. It is not always the best sign 
of a boy that he is fonder of his books than of his play. 
The mind may grow at the expense of the body, and as a 
plant shooting up out of a sterile soil, but under a genial 
atmosphere, " to-day will flourish and to-morrow die ;." 
so the mental powers may thus soon spring to maturity, 
but unless they derive much of their strength and action 
from a sound constitution, by inhaling too largely of an 
atmosphere of science and literature, they may not only 
as speedily decay, but, at the same time, irrecoverably 
injure the bodily constitution. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The second branch of education according to the pre- 
ceding division, has a reference to the intellectual nature 
of man. In tracing the connexion of the moving powers 
of the body up through the hones, the muscles, the nerves, 
the spinal cord, and the brain, it was stated that these 
all depend for action upon the will. It may now further 
be remarked, that the will presides no less over the 
actions of the mental faculties than of the bodily; in 
short, that it governs the whole man. Yet is this 
will no irresponsible agent, nor less guided in its ope- 
rations by these same faculties, than are the nerves and 
muscles by it. It may have the direction of the conduct 
and movements, but it acts and moves itself by direction. 
It may be the ruling power, but it must receive power 
to rule, and that power is vested in the understanding. 
It is this which suggests motives of action to the will, or 
moves the will to act. " No man," says Locke, " ever 
sets himself about anything but upon some view or other, 
which serves him as a reason for what he does," and this 
reason must be contained in the understanding. His 
motives arise, too, from ideas contained in the under- 
standing ; upon the correctness or incorrectness of which, 
must his conduct depend for its propriety, or impropriety. 
These ideas are only of two kinds, those prepared by the 
mind itself, or reflective ideas, which are again derived 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 223 

from others received by the senses, or sensations. Now 
as these sensations proceed from objects external to the 
mind and the body, the whole man, properly speaking, is 
an agent acting to this extent under the influence of 
external circumstances. But these circumstances are laws 
ordained and controlled by Providence, and hence the 
responsibility of man for his conduct to the Great Creator, 
as an agent acting under his control and government. 
During the earliest years of his life, however, a term of 
apprenticeship must be gone through to qualify him for 
this agency, and until he be so qualified, he is under the 
control and direction of a subordinate. That subordi- 
nate is a parent, or an instructor, whose province it is to 
guide him into a proper relation to these laws, that by 
bringing them to bear upon his understanding, it may be 
enlightened so as to induce the will to perform right 
actions; and also qualified for judging of the rectitude 
of these actions when performed. The understanding 
must be shown in what direction the laws of nature and 
Providence tend, that the will may be swayed, and the 
conduct borne along in the same direction ; but if a per- 
verted view of these be given, the conduct will exhibit a 
corresponding obliquity. If in physical motion, the desires 
of the will may be thwarted by organic derangement, 
so the operation of these natural laws may also be re- 
fracted, and turned aside, by entering the medium of a 
perverted understanding. Whatever powers of body or 
mind, then, the will employs in accomplishing a purpose, 
it must have had a previous motive communicated to it 
to do so, and that motive would be a reason produced 
by the understanding. Any reason would be sufficiently 
moving to the will, but it must have some reason for 
moving ; if that reason be an enlightened one, the right 
path of conduct will be shown and entered upon, but if 



&24 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

unenlightened, that path is left in darkness. There is, 
therefore, no part of education more important in its 
results than the regulation of the understanding, either 
as regards its acquirements or manifestations, its know- 
ledge or its power. 

A general division of the mind into its separate facul- 
ties may best point out the course that should he pursued 
in its guidance. Modern philosophy arranges these facul- 
ties into two classes — feelings and intellect. The former 
are subdivided into propensities and sentiments, and the 
latter into powers of perception and reflection. The pro- 
pensities induce desires, inclinations, and instincts, com^ 
mon to the lower animals with man. The sentiments are 
a higher grade of feelings joined to the propensities, and 
induce upon them peculiar emotions. Some of these 
sentiments are also common to man with the lower 
animals ; but what are called superior sentiments are 
possessed by man alone. 

Again, the intellect is divided into perceptive and 
reflective faculties. The former perceive the existence of 
external objects, their qualities and relations, also embrac- 
ing the faculty of language. This order is the earliest 
developed, and is limited to the acquisition of knowledge. 
The reflective faculties are two in number, comparison 
and reason, and are developed at a maturer age. The 
former, as its name imports, compares ideas together to 
show their differences and resemblances, and is the source 
of wit, oratory, and poetry. The latter, and the noblest 
power of the mind, is reason, that faculty designed to 
observe cause and effect, deducing thence principles of 
guidance for the moral conduct, and those laws upon 
which the whole material universe depends. Reason is 
thus not only the distinguishing characteristic between 
man and the lower animals, giving him a power over their 



PHILOSOPHY OP TRAINING. 225 

superior physical strength ; hut it enables him in some 
degree to turn aside the very course of nature for his own 
benefit. This branch of the human intellect, too, enables 
the mind to pry into itself, and examine the laws of its 
own structure and functions. 

Intellectual education, therefore, resolves itself into 
two branches according to these two divisions of the intel- 
lect, the perceptive and reflective powers. A perception 
of the existence and qualities of objects, is first communi- 
cated to the mind by the senses. Look at a little child 
playing in its mother's lap with a toy; it grasps it 
with its tiny fingers, and gains a sensation of its hard- 
ness ; gazes upon it, and receives an impression of its 
form; puts it to its mouth and tastes it; catches by chance 
its smell ; knocks it against another substance and hears 
its sound ; and there may be seen a process of education 
going on, from which the instructor may gain his first 
lesson in the art of teaching. These are the faculties 
seeking gratification and amusement, and that is the 
mode to gratify and amuse them. While awake, the 
senses of a child are ever open to impressions from 
external objects, and there is an impulse within con- 
stantly inciting him to touch, taste, and handle, that he 
may receive such impressions. 

This is a similar instinct of the mind impelling it to 
obtain knowledge, to that bodily craving which prompts a 
child to cling to the breast for its material nourishment. 
The desire should, therefore, be gratified according to its 
manifestation ; but as it would act blindly and might 
lead to the reception of injurious impressions, it must be 
guided to suitable objects to imbibe proper impressions. 
These objects must also be in sufficient number and 
variety to gratify its ever restless appetite for novelty, and 
at the same time keep its curiosity awake. But the same 

L 3 



&26 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

objects must be repeatedly examined, that the mind may 
gain clear ideas of their identity and characteristics, as it 
is this which will lead to the formation of clear ideas in 
general, and even in infancy prevent the mind from 
becoming the receptacle of a confused mass of imperfect 
images. It is also the source of clear thoughts and 
reflections, and the foundation of a correct judgment. 
These objects should also be presented to a child in a 
manner to attract his attention, and keep alive his curio- 
sity until he becomes familiar with their sensible quali- 
ties. Such an exercise appeals at once to the faculty of 
perception; and long before any words can be used to 
convey ideas by representation, these ideas have been 
gained by observation and have sunk deep into the mind. 

The faculty of language is among the latest of the per- 
ceptive powers in being developed, and requires even some 
reflection to aid its manifestations artificially. To gain 
the name of any object, two things must be presented to 
the mind, the name and the thing; and the establishing 
of a connexion between them is a reflective process. The 
faculty of natural language is indeed a mere instinct 
common to the lower animals with man, which is developed 
to a certain extent by imitation; and even the formality of 
merely pronouncing words without understanding their 
meaning is little more. It is when language becomes the 
handmaid of the higher powers, that its instrumentality is 
fully unfolded. 

In conducting these lessons on objects, therefore, it is 
necessary that a plan be adhered to, according with the 
laws of the mind's manifestation. When a child is learn- 
ing to speak, which it does by imitating its parent, there 
is an instrument developing itself that must be guided in 
its application, and directed to a proper end. Each 
object and quality of which the mind has become 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 227 

cognisant, must receive its appropriate name. And as a 
repeated view of an object is necessary to fix its identity 
in the mind, so must its name be repeatedly pronounced 
in association with the object to identify this connexion. 
Successive views of the object will then not only call up an 
idea of that object but its name, and thus awaken the 
language faculty to exercise and strength. But it is an 
artificial tendency, so to speak, that is now induced upon 
the natural faculty, which thus becomes an organ for the 
language of the mind rather than of the feelings, the latter 
of which is an instinctive language. To a clearness of 
apprehension regarding the existence and qualities of 
objects, there will now be added the commencement of a 
course of verbal instruction, equally appealing to an exist- 
ing faculty of the mind. Both powers must, therefore, be 
educated simultaneously, that each may reflect light upon 
the other ; but in their incipient stages of development, 
objects and exercises corresponding to their capacities 
must alone be submitted. 

The observing faculties of the mind have been fitly 
compared to a camera obscura, into which the senses are 
constantly transmitting miniature pictures of external 
objects. A condensed view of a portion of nature is thus 
obtained in a small compass. But the camera must be 
adjusted to the view, its tube directed towards the objects, 
and its glasses properly arranged; or by a collocation and 
disposition of the objects themselves, they must be brought 
to bear upon the instrument, and be adapted to its focal 
diameter. In the arrangement of lessons for the observ- 
ing faculties of children, a similar adaptation must be 
made — the objects must be placed before them so as to 
attract their attention, and be of a nature suited to 
their comprehension. This disposition of the object to, 
the subject of education, is perhaps rather a branch of 



228 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

method, already treated of; but it may not be extraneous 
merely to indicate the course pointed out by Mr. Wilder- 
spin, in his infant lessons, so well adapted to the observ- 
ing faculties in their incipient stages of development. 

This is simply the Pestalozzian principle reduced to 
art, and teaching from objects rather than books; but 
instead of going into the fields and gleaning know- 
ledge from things scattered abroad, these are condensed 
into the focus of a school-room. A large collection of 
objects or specimens of them are fixed upon a number of 
boards, and presented to the children in a regular series 
to be examined and named. These boards are about six- 
teen inches square, and a quarter of an inch thick, and 
fitted to slide out and in the grooves of a lesson post. 
The objects or fragments are glued or fastened to the 
boards with screws or waxed thread, the children are 
ranged in front of the board, and the teacher stands 
beside them, with a pointer in his hand. With this he 
calls attention to a particular article, and when the chil- 
dren have examiued it, he names it, and asks them to repeat 
the name after him — and proceeds so until they can name 
them all in succession. It is exactly similar to learning 
the alphabet, and it is, indeed, the alphabet of the book 
of nature. The order of these lessons is also calculated 
to induce a habit of induction, and to trace the arts and 
manufactures from the natural material. 

" The first board contains a small piece of gold in its 
rough state, a piece of gold in its manufactured state, a 
piece of silver in both states, a piece of copper in both 
states, a piece of brass in both states, a piece of iron in 
both states; a piece of steel in both states, a piece of tinfoil, 
a piece of solder, a screw, a clasp nail, a clout nail, a 
hob nail, a spike nail, a sparable, and a tack. 

" The next board may contain a piece of hemp, a piece 
of rope, string, bagging, sacking, canvas, hessian, Scotch 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING^ 229 

"sheeting, unbleached linen, bleached linen, diaper linen, 
dyed linen, flax, thread, yarn, ticking, raw silk, twisted 
silk, India silk, figured silk, white plain silk, dyed silk, 
a piece of ribbon, silk cord, silk velvet," &c. 

The next board contains cotton in all its varieties, the 
next all the different kinds of paper, the next a number of 
wooden animals from the toy warehouses, the next differ- 
ent kinds of wood, prunings of fruit trees, small articles 
of ironmongery, and he also suggests the dried leaves of 
the different kinds of trees, &c. 

From these and numberless other articles, then, the chil- 
dren carry off a store of ideas and names, and their minds 
become the repositories of suitable materials for future 
reflection. It is another link added to the chain of con- 
nexion between their minds and the world without, making 
an impression upon their understandings of a part of 
nature in miniature, that, according to its depth, must in- 
fluence their mental conduct through life. Such impres- 
sions, if kept alive, will enable them at once to recognise 
their archetypes in the world and to name them, or in 
reading or hearing such names of objects to understand 
them. 

A higher exercise than this mere oral nomenclature of 
things, however, is necessary in a course of lessons on 
objects. The qualities of things cannot all be known by 
sight, some must be handled, tasted, smelt, and heard; 
the other senses must therefore be appealed to, and sensa- 
tions of these different qualities formed by actual contact. 
All these sensations of qualities, as well as the objects, 
must be named, first orally, but also in writing on a black 
board, and thus seen ; not only associating in the mind 
spoken, but written names, with clear ideas of what they re- 
present. Pictures of objects that cannot be shown in sample, 
and particularly of animals, is the next step in the repre- 
sentation of nature, and these can carry the mind much 



230 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

further than tangible objects. As these, however, may 
embrace things the qualities of which cannot be sensibly 
perceived, much more verbal instruction is necessary to 
be given along with them. In both cases, indeed, a con- 
siderable degree of oral teaching is indispensable. But 
the verbal knowledge thus communicated, is like mortar 
to a building, binding together its materials ; as the sepa- 
rate ideas of objects lying in the mind are thus connected 
by other minor ideas, and trains of thought established. 
Much telling is, however, equally bad, as it tends to 
induce a passiveness upon the mind, which the more it 
renders the mere reception of ideas agreeable, increases 
the danger of that supineness of intellect, which prevents 
the mind itself from acquiring a habit of self-instruction. 
The best practical exemplification of this great principle 
of object teaching, discovered by Pestalozzi, may be seen 
in a well-known little book, by Miss Mayo, entitled 
" Lessons on Objects." In that manual, the principles of 
mental philosophy are carefully adhered to, and the lessons 
well adapted to the gradual development of the perceptive 
and reflective powers. 

From these four sources, then, — objects, pictures, con- 
versation, and reading, — stream the first rays of intel- 
ligence that should enlighten the understanding of a child ; 
and if a parallel course be continued in extemo, his mind 
will thus become enriched with a vast store of information. 
But there is a higher power of intellect to which such a 
course does not immediately appeal. It is, however, prepa- 
ratory to it, and unless the mind has undergone this pre- 
vious alimentary exercise, the superior faculty oireason has 
but little means of manifesting its peculiar endowments. 
As the faculty of language is the last in being brought 
into action among the observing powers, — its office being 
to help in arranging, classifying, and naming, previously 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 231 

accumulated information, filling up, so to speak; those 
interstices that may disconnect its several parts, — so 
that of reflection, by means of language, proceeds now to 
draw out not only isolated ideas, but trains of thought. 
Nor only does it call forth single ideas in combination, 
but combined ideas singly ; new ideas out of old ones ; the 
ludicrous from the grave, and the grave from the ludi- 
crous ; the beautiful and sublime from the simple and 
common; lofty thoughts from the humblest; truth from 
error; the cause from the effect, and the effect from the 
cause. In short, from the old world of reality without, a 
new world of thought and imagination is thus created 
within the busy brain of man, into which the tired 
observer of nature can retreat, and enjoy the most delight- 
ful contemplation. These thoughts form of themselves 
a world to engage the attention of the reflective faculties, 
as their archetypes in nature served to call forth the 
observation of the perceptive. But an external guidance 
of a different kind must be applied to the former, as 
much more than a mere dreamy observation is needed 
for their excitement and gratification. They must not 
only be engaged as spectators of the information acquired, 
but as workmen in accumulating more out of it; not 
only treated to a view of the mind's picture gallery, but 
initiated into the mysteries of its studio. 

The method pursued in the intellectual department of 
the best trainiDg seminaries, proceeds upon the principle 
of taking it for granted that the newly- admitted children 
of a school know nothing until it has been ascertained 
by the master. He proceeds to excavate the soil, and to 
lay a foundation, by inculcating the simplest facts in his 
own way, whether these facts may have been communi- 
cated previously or not. There is thus, so to speak, a 
superstratum formed over the mind's antecedent know- 



23£ PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

ledge, affording him ground to stand upon in examining 
the depths beneath and eliciting further results ; and in 
a gallery class all are thus prepared to proceed from the 
same point. The same principle is carried out through 
every succeeding lesson, though of course in inculcating 
additional facts, and drawing out additional inferences 
or lessons. As little, however, is told to the children 
as possible ; certain facts, indeed, must be stated ; but 
from these facts as a basis, the children are trained to 
deduce inferences, and arrive at results, through the 
exercise of their own minds. When a fact or principle 
becomes thus impressed upon the mind, it remains there 
with all the force of a discovery ; the permanency of which 
is, therefore, much greater in the mind of a child than that 
of any fact it may have been taught. But this is not 
the chief advantage. In being told facts, the mind may 
be gratified, but it can hardly be said to be improved. 
It becomes, then, a mere passive recipient : in other 
words, the faculty of perception has only been engaged, 
and even that but partially, while the judgment is alto- 
gether inoperative. To receive facts in this way may, 
therefore, make a child cognisant of many circumstances 
and events in the abstract ; but out of these materials he 
will be utterly unable to deduce new and correct ideas, 
his reflective powers not having been called into play. 
This can only be done by a mental effort either in the 
child or the man. It is by contrasting and comparing 
one set of ideas with another that new ones are produced, 
and that a judgment is formed upon any subject. Hence, 
indeed, the very meaning of the word reflection, which 
signifies a bending back of the mind upon itself, and 
taking cognisance of ideas previously communicated. 
In the process under consideration, therefore, the child 
is not only taught new ideas, but is trained to the art 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 233 

of using these ideas ; or, in other words, is simply taught 
how to think properly on any subject. The judgment or 
reasoning faculty is thus called into exercise ; and as 
certainly as the muscles of the body are developed and 
strengthened by healthy action, so also will the mind by 
such an exercise become invigorated and improved. In 
training, the mind is made to work out for itself, from 
given materials, what in teaching is gratuitously given ; 
and in the act of so doing, the habit of reasoning or 
of tracing effects to their cause, is formed. Teaching, 
for example, is to tell a child the results of other people's 
experience and investigation ; but training is to enable 
him to find out these results by his own experience and 
research; with this addition, that training, as it includes 
teaching, both furnishes the mind with facts, and enables 
it to deduce inferences and conclusions from these facts. 

There are several ways in which the former of these 
may be accomplished. It is, however, a peculiarity 
of the normal system at Glasgow, to effect this by 
speaking to the children elliptically, and allowing them 
to fill up the gap, and then, by a certain form of cate- 
chising, eliciting the result. To form an ellipsis, pro- 
perly, is not by any means so simple a matter as it appears, 
and that is the reason that in the hands of an unskilful 
person it looks so very meaningless. It is not enough 
merely to omit a word or two of a sentence and let the 
children fill in such as would have occurred as a matter 
of course. The hiatus must comprehend the conclusion 
of a proposition, or at least a result which the preceding 
part of the sentence led to as a rational sequence. It 
should contain the very pith of the remark, without 
which the previous words would be unmeaning and un- 
intelligible ; like the space left for the key-stone of an 
arch, the whole of which depends for its stability upon 



234 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the insertion of the stone. By a proper combination of 
questions and ellipses, the mind becomes both replen- 
ished with facts, and enabled by reflection to draw 
conclusions from these facts. It is in many respects an 
application of the inductive philosophy to the science of 
education ; and it may safely be asserted, that the carry- 
ing out of such a principle would produce no less satis- 
factory results in that science, than it has done in any 
other to which it has been applied. By this means, the 
geologist, from the slender data afforded in the discovery 
of a few bones embedded in a rock, can trace the structure 
and habits of many races of extinct animals, and can 
even describe the appearance of our globe long ere it 
assumed its present form. The historian, from the 
single fact that " fine linen existed in Egypt in the time 
of Moses," can deduce many other facts relative to the 
state of Egypt, — such as its government, science, and art, 
at that period. He sees, for example, that fine linen 
could only be made from fine thread, and fine thread 
from fine flax ; and that fine flax must go through 
various acts of preparation, in which many workmen 
must have been employed before fine linen could have 
been made. The weaving of fine linen presupposes 
artists having acquired skill and dexterity in the art by 
imitation and example. Hence the existence of the art ; 
and its perfection may also be deduced from the fineness of 
the fabric. The state of agriculture in the country may 
also be deduced in the same way. And by the same pro- 
cess did the immortal Newton, setting aside the theories 
and hypotheses of the ancients regarding their " cycle 
and epicycle, orb on orb," demonstrate, from the appa- 
rently trivial circumstance of the falling apple, that the 
myriad hosts of heaven revolve around each other by the 
same law. Nor does this process of inductive reasoning 



PHILOSOPHY OF TEAINING. 235 

involve any principle which is not clearly intelligible, 
and easily practised, at an early age. 

The relative duties of a trainer and his pupil in such a 
course, are those of analysis and synthesis; both of which 
may he illustrated by a single example from etymology. 
It is the work of the trainer to analyse a word into its 
component parts, and show the meaning of these sepa- 
rately, while that of the pupil is to reconstruct these 
separate elements into the same word, and show their com- 
bined meaning. The master analyses, the pupil combines. 
For example, to tell a pupil that the word "reconstruction" 
is composed of four different parts, each having a separate 
and distinct meaning; that "re" signifies again — " con" 
together — "struc" build, and "tion" the act of — is to 
analyse the word so far as is necessary ; but when the 
boy, from this knowledge, combines these meanings, and 
finds that they signify the " act of building together 
again," he is proceeding synthetically, and arriving at a 
correct understanding of the term. He thus not only 
sees the meaning of the word, but how it comes to have 
such a meaning. 

It is necessary to call particular attention to this point, 
for it is to this alone that almost all modern improve- 
ments in reflective education may be referred ; and it is 
now coming into universal application in well-conducted 
schools, from the most elementary knowledge to the 
highest branches of study. It is by adhering to this 
mode, from the alphabet upwards, that most schools in 
Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, are conducted so 
efficiently and intellectually. And the reason is, that it 
is entirely the process which nature pursues in develop- 
ing the mind- — first, by collecting facts, and then 
gradually comparing, combining, and finally analysing 
these facts. What is it, indeed, but a process of nature 



£36 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

itself in the arrangements of the material creation ? When 
bodies undergo decomposition and decay, their elementary 
particles enter into new arrangements and combinations 
with other bodies. New forms are thus created by syn- 
thesis. When a piece of wood is heated in a certain 
manner, it is analysed into water, an acid, several kinds 
of gas, and charcoal ; and when animal and vegetable 
bodies are decomposed beneath the surface of the earth, 
they become assimilated to the soil, enter into the 
nourishment of other plants and vegetables, and in 
turn, also form component parts of other animals by 
synthesis. 

What has of late been so frequently styled the " ana- 
lytical" method of instruction, is, therefore, only half 
the required process. It is true that to analyse any sub- 
ject, and present it to the mind in a clear and popular 
manner, is intellectual teaching, and a vast improvement 
it is upon former methods ; but it is by no means intel- 
lectual training, which is a matter of vastly greater 
moment. Teaching, or analysis, is to inform a child 
that atmospheric air is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, 
and carbon : training, or synthesis, is to lead the 
mind from a knowledge of the nature and properties of 
these separate gases, to deduce the ideas, not only of 
what air is composed, but how balloons float in it, how 
water rises in a pump, how mercury oscillates in 
the tube of a barometer, how water boils at different 
temperatures. Teaching is to show a pupil the cut stem 
of a tree, with its concentric circles, and to tell him 
these indicate the age of that tree ; but training leads the 
mind to observe how the moisture of the soil ascends the 
trunk, and the nitrogen of the air descends by its leaves 
and branches, to meet this sap and deposit this annual 
contribution of matter. Teaching is to say that the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 237 

camel can sustain life in the desert for a number of days 
without water ; but training shows how it can do so, by 
mentally analysing the sacs and membranes of its sto- 
mach, showing the separation of the imbibed fluid from 
the intestines, from its mixing with the solid aliment, the 
gastric juice and digestive action of the stomach ; with 
the singular power of muscle possessed by the animal, in 
wringing out the fluid from its reservoirs when incited by 
thirst. Teaching is to tell a child that man is curiously 
and wonderfully made ; but training enables him to 
perceive the wonder for himself, from an analysis of the 
body's mechanism and functions; and teaching, too, may 
tell of the wisdom and goodness of that body's Creator ; 
but training leads the mind, by the most infallible steps, 
to read the sublime lesson for itself in the wonderful 
adaptation of that body's parts and functions. The 
former is simply an administering of aliment to the mind 
without allowing it exercise sufficient to assimilate such 
knowledge with the mental constitution, the consequence 
of which is, that, while the memory may be overloaded 
with information, there will still be a want of that mental 
elasticity and power of forming a correct judgment, even 
on trivial matters, that characterise so many of what are 
called learned men. 

The mind in this respect, indeed, seems to acknowledge 
the same law that regulates our physical nature Luxurious 
living, and want of corporal exercise, expand the body 
to unnatural dimensions, thus rendering it unfit for many 
of the active pleasures and enjoyments of life; and the 
mind, when sated with facts and gratuitous intelligence, 
seems also to grow incapable of bending to the task of 
eliciting truth by any lengthened train of reasoning. 
The synthetic or constructive method of teaching affords 
the means of supplying this desideratum. By analysis, 



238 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

materials are only prepared for the mind of the pupil ; 
"by synthesis, these materials are put together, and that 
also by a mental act of the pupil ; and it is by thus 
acting or doing for itself, that the mind acquires that 
independent self-reliance, that power of discriminating 
between truth and error, that flexibility and strength, 
which form the true characteristics of a well- cultivated 
mind. In accordance with this plan, therefore, instead 
of loading a child's memory with unexplained rules, he 
should be taught principles, and left to deduce the rules 
for himself out of these principles. In teaching arith- 
metic, for example, instead of telling a boy that the 
upper figure of a fraction is the numerator, and the 
under figure its denominator, and leaving him in posses- 
sion of that bare fact, and these unexplained terms, the 
meaning of a fraction should be analysed and explained 
by some familiar illustration, and the names of its parts 
at last communicated. He will then see the connexion 
between these names and the principle upon which they 
are based. And in grammar, instead of making him 
commit to memory the mere nomenclature of the parts of 
speech, he should be shown, incidentally from his own 
reading lesson, that all the words in his book belong to 
certain classes or kinds, and that every class has a certain 
name attached to it. And at a further stage, the influence 
of one word on another should be explained in a similar 
manner. Last of all, the rules may be committed to 
memory ; that is, after the principles have been under- 
stood, when the meaning of the former is easily com- 
prehended. In order to teach grammar efficiently, it 
must be first taught incidentally, and then systematically. 
In the oral lessons, too, ideas are always communicated 
before the names of these ideas. Nothing can be more 
strictly in harmony with nature than this. Language 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 239 

being a mere arbitrary and artificial invention, it is long 
after children have arrived at perfectly correct ideas of 
many things that they can express these in words. The 
very infant, unable to articulate a single word, has a 
certain amount of knowledge, and would continue in- 
creasing that stock through life, were there no such 
thing as a language in the world. The intervention of 
language is only a means for facilitating the acquisition 
and expression of knowledge. It is, therefore, of 
secondary importance, and must be communicated after 
the ideas of which it is the symbol have been received 
into the mind. 

In conversational teaching, it is not the natural course 
to ask a child what geography or chemistry means. The 
science itself must be pictured out, and made obvious to 
the mind, and after the child sees the meaning, he feels 
the necessity of the term, should the latter be communi- 
cated. Thus will the one, ever afterwards by association, 
call up the other. Whereas, by reversing the process, it 
is too frequently the case that the word remains in the 
memory as a mere sound, without any definite meaning 
attached to it. And not only is this the course along 
which nature guides children, in acquiring a knowledge 
of their vernacular tongue, but it is the very process by 
which language itself was formed, simply from a necessity 
of terms to express accumulating ideas. In ordinary 
reading lessons, however, where words must be analysed 
etymologically, the usual course is adopted, namely, to 
separate the root from its prefix and postfix, and show 
how the current meaning is evolved. As a subsidiary 
exercise to this, mental composition is also practised. 
This is a very simple process, though as a habit of 
expressing thought, and a preparatory exercise to written 
composition, it is of very high importance. When the 



240 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING.- 

root of a- word has been brought out with its prefix and 
postfix, other words from the same root are then required, 
each child repeating the first that occurs to him. He 
is then required to give a sentence, embodying the 
exact word, thus cultivating a habit of thought in giving 
the term. By forming the word into a sentence, a proof 
is also afforded that he knows the meaning of it; or if 
it be used in a wrong sense or ungrammatically, it is the 
duty of the master to show the proper arrangement. Geo- 
graphy should likewise be conducted incidentally, before 
a systematic course has commenced. In tbe ordinary 
reading lesson, when allusion may have been made to 
any place, its productions, manufactures, or manners of 
its inhabitants, and other circumstances will be noticed ; 
and by such means many geographical facts be obtained. 
Spelling is also taught subsequently to reading. It is a 
great mistake to imagine that it is necessary to learn to 
read by spelling, at least spelling by means of the names 
of the letters, for between these names and the sound of 
a word there is not in most cases the remotest connexion. 
If spelling be used at all in order to facilitate reading, it 
must be done by means of the sounds of the letters, or 
phonically. But the principal use of spelling, or correct 
orthography, is, that one may be able to write properly ; 
to retrace, upon paper, the relative situation of the letters 
in a word without misplacing them. It is, in short, a 
kindred art to that of painting from memory. The 
painter, remembering the features of an absent object, 
can transfer these to his canvas each in its order, and 
thus form a copy of the original ; and the child learning 
to spell cannot do so by thinking how the word sounds. 
but by remembering how it looks. It is the eye, there- 
fore, more than the ear, that must become familiar with 
the word before it can be readily spelt. Nor should the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 241 

child ever be set to spell the word, until he has become 
able to read it ; and then, too, if it were possible, instead 
of spelling it orally, it ought to be written down. The 
letters of the alphabet are also taught by their sounds 
instead of their names. 

From all these instances, here shortly recapitulated, it 
must be obvious that an improved system of modern 
education is an entirely opposite course to former 
methods. It is in most cases a beginning where they 
ended, and ending where they began. Ideas are com- 
municated before words; principles before rules; the 
judgment cultivated before the memory; incidental in- 
formation before systematic ; reading before spelling ; 
the sound of the letters before their names ; and, on the 
whole, it may be added, nature before art. 

Education has a double end in view, namely, the 
preparation of a child for the duties of the present life, 
as well as for the enjoyment of another; and in order to 
fit him for a proper discharge of the former, a knowledge 
of the arts and sciences is indispensable. The period of 
attending school is obviously the best time for acquiring 
this knowledge; not, perhaps, all the details and more 
abstruse points of science, but the general features, or 
the great and leading principles. From these as a basis, 
his future reading, or attendance on lectures, or even 
practical application in the business of life, will be ren- 
dered infinitely more available. By the present method 
the two principal obstructions to the diffusion of scientific 
knowledge are removed; namely, the want of a fixed 
habit of thinking and investigating cause and effect ; and 
the difficulty of comprehending the technical terms em- 
ployed. It has been already shown how a system of 
training teaches to think, gives an impulse and a right 
direction to the mental powers, and by means of the habit 

M 



242 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of analysing words etymologically, a key is also afforded 
to open up the meaning of any term. In giving a scien- 
tific lesson on any subject, there are three ways of pre- 
senting it to the mind, either by exhibiting the bond fide 
object itself, a visible illustration, or a verbal picture' of 
it. The first of these, or Pestalozzian method, is of 
course not always practicable ; and even if a specimen of 
the material object could be always obtained, there are 
certain qualities, abstractions, and relations, that no com- 
bination of material objects could ever represent. The 
second method, for a similar reason, can only give a 
partial view of the subject. In the training system, 
however, all the three methods are adopted; the object 
itself, when possible, or a diagram of it, and the details 
or abstractions by a verbal picturing out. In the absence 
of the two former, and where the subject cannot be 
brought before the eye, analogy and illustration are had 
recourse to; some analogous facts of which the children 
are already cognizant are brought forward, and thus from 
the known are they led on to the unknown ; from the 
clear to the obscure; until they have received a full 
comprehension of the whole subject.* 

This, then, being the main principle of the art of 
training, namely, the cultivation of the understanding, it 
is applied to all subjects, sacred as well as secular, and 
for this simple reason, that the religion of the Bible is 
addressed to the heart through the medium of the under- 
standing. Our holy religion is a religion of reason as 
well as of revelation. While it treats of sublime mys- 
teries, which it is our duty simply to believe, it is no less 
a reasonable service. In accordance with this view, 



* See Mr. Stow's excellent work on the Training System, for 
examples of this mode of lessoning. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 243 

therefore, the same method of training the understanding 
is adopted. Analogy and illustration are here employed, 
with perhaps more powerful effect than in any merely 
secular subject. All must have felt the superiority of a 
preacher who is in the habit of illustrating his subject by 
a reference to natural objects, over another who contents 
himself with a simple statement of facts. For example, 
to assert that the corrupted will is the source of all 
moral depravity, may fall powerlessly upon the ear, or 
pass as a kind of truism ; while it is impossible not to 
be struck with the melancholy fact, when our spiritual 
nature is pictured out by some such analogy as a watch, 
the main-spring of which, representing the will, has be- 
come injured to the consequent derangement of its parts. 
Or to announce that the doctrines of the Gospel are 
unwelcome to sinners, may be believed in as true, but it 
will be seen and felt to be so much more strongly, from 
some such analogy as the fragrant odour of new-mown 
hay, which to a person in a healthy frame is delightful 
and invigorating, while to one afflicted with asthma, it 
will bring on a paroxysm of his disease — the smell being 
the same to all, but the capacity of each being different to 
receive it. Besides, He who spake as never man spake, 
had recourse to the very same method. A grain of 
mustard- seed, the flowers of the field, the tares and the 
wheat, the fig tree, the fowls of the air, the beasts of 
the field, were all called into requisition to illustrate and 
enforce the great lessons he taught. And the reason is, 
that spiritual things being invisible to the natural eye, 
can only become visible to mental observation, when 
presented in the frame- work of a material object. There 
is no fear of the Bible and the book of nature not har- 
monising together, when taught upon such a principle. 
The entire Bible may therefore become a text-book, and 

M 2 



244 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

be placed in the hands of every child capable of reading 
it, not as a task-hook for mere reading and spelling, but 
for moral and religious instruction. When a passage 
is read, every part of it should be explained separately, 
the connexion of each part be shown, and the ideas of 
the children developed from the whole. 

In such a way, therefore, is it, that the seeds of 
spiritual knowledge are sown, not in the form of ab- 
struse theological terms, but in the simple language 
of Christ himself. By this daily exercise, the under- 
standing is enlightened, and the affections drawn forth, 
and instead of the reading of that blessed book being 
looked upon as a task, it comes to be regarded as a 
pleasure. It is to be borne in mind, however, that the 
cultivation of the understanding is not here an end, but 
a means; the teaching of the heart and regulation of 
the feelings being the sole end in view. Scientific sub- 
jects are doubtless introduced into many of these Bible 
lessons, and analysed ; but this is done for the purpose 
of elucidating some doctrine or moral precept contained 
beneath such imagery. Suppose the lesson be taken 
from that passage in the Psalms where David compares 
himself to the hart panting after the water-brooks ,* the 
natural history and habits of the hart will be pictured 
out ; the nature of the climate with its scorching heat 
and dust ; the great value of water in such a country ; 
the panting and longing of the thirsty animal for the 
water-brooks, at which it may have been accustomed to 
drink, but which are now dried up : then the character 
of David, with the circumstances in which he was placed 
at the time, deprived of public ordinances, and at a 
distance from the tabernacle; and finally, his strong 
desire of again enjoying these privileges. This latter, 
however, being the lesson, does not need to be drawn ; it 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 245 

is at once seen. With such a lesson it is impossible for 
a child not to be delighted. The imagination is capti- 
vated, and the understanding improved, by the natural 
picture; the melancholy circumstances of David at the 
time call forth the best sympathies of the heart; his 
strong desire to return to his country, and hold commu- 
nion with his people and his God, is not only seen, but 
almost felt ; the feeling is admired, and the resolution to 
copy after it insensibly formed. Strange, indeed, that a 
book so adapted to our fallen nature as the Bible is — 
adapted to it also by the unerring inspiration of Omni- 
science — should not find a more ready response in the 
bosoms of the most unthinking, and compel their atten- 
tion to its interesting truths more forcibly than it does. 
Strange, I say, but only so to one not cognizant of the 
fact, that the hitherto mechanical processes of teaching 
it, have, in a great measure, positively neutralized its 
effects. That heavenly Teacher sent from God has left us 
in this, as in all his other deeds of humanity, an example 
of ' didactic' lessoning, the sublime simplicity of which, 
if applied to the lessons of Christianity and universally 
acted upon, would give religion a very different aspect. 
That the natural mind is at enmity with God is, of course, 
a melancholy truth; but it is also true that religion 
is adapted to destroy that enmity. Why, then, is it 
not more generally powerful than it is? It may be 
answered without hesitation — that, among other rea- 
sons, one principal cause is, it is not presented to the 
mind in a sufficiently attractive form, neither is it suffi- 
ciently addressed to the understanding. It is, in too 
many cases, more a rhapsody of mere words, than of 
well-defined ideas; of names and sounds, rather than of 
heavenly knowledge. And it is because the Bible has 
been made a book for mere reading and spelling — has 



246 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

been conned over and over to -weariness in the committing 
to memory of its unexplained passages, and not unfre- 
quently associated in the mind with sobs and tears and 
bodily chastisement, that most of the dislike and repug- 
nance which a child entertains towards it have been 
engendered. Or it may be, that some of its sublimest 
passages, or of those essential to salvation, have been 
given to be committed to memory as a punishment for 
some offence ; an error which has only its counterpart in 
the penances of the Church of Rome, or the repeating 
of so many prayers a certain number of times as an 
imaginary atonement for sin. The Bible contains strong 
meat for men, as well as milk for babes, with food for 
those of every intermediate stage. If, then, this natural 
process be reversed, and abstruse points of theology, with 
their difficult and unexplained terms, be given to children, 
it is no more to be wondered at that they should turn 
away from these, than from that which is disagreeable to 
their natural palate. But let a proper and judicious 
selection be made of what doctrines and passages are 
suited to their capacity, and let them see their way 
through, and properly understand these, and let them be 
communicated in the spirit of the Gospel, and there is 
no fear but they will find a ready access to their affec- 
tions. The Gospel is the " power of God unto salvation,'* 
and it is an omnipotent moral lever power; but in order 
to a proper application of it, it must rest upon the 
understanding as its fulcrum. 

Another, though an inferior motive, in the inculcating 
of morality is, to give a greater prominence than is 
usually done to the temporal consequences attached 
to a virtuous life. Godliness is profitable for the life 
that now is, as well as for that which is to come. 
This is, therefore, a perfectly legitimate motive, and 



"PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 247 

one which immediately appeals to the child's observa- 
tion and experience. The happiness of virtue and 
the miseries of vice are visible on every side of him; 
and if, in accordance with this, it be shown how great 
is the actual amount of happiness conferred upon an 
individual, in the keeping of God's commandments, 
the understanding at least acknowledges the fact, and, 
other things being equal, will act upon it. It is, there- 
fore, the duty of the trainer, as well as the preacher, to 
appeal to every legitimate motive; in order to gain 
his end, he must be " all things to all." It is by these 
means, then, that the foundation of Christian morality 
must be laid, and in which process the same system is 
pursued, as in the secular division of the intellectual 
department ; that is, by analogy, illustration, and pic- 
turing out, enabling a child to deduce the principles 
and ideas of Christianity, previously to his being put 
into possession of its difficult terms. Nor should a 
single term be employed before it be analysed, explained, 
and broken down to the level of the child's comprehen- 
sion. The shell of the nut must be broken, and the 
kernel presented ; or rather, the casket must be unlocked, 
and the gems taken forth by the instructor, before the 
child can either relish the taste of the one, or admire the 
beauty of the other. 

Let it once be granted that the acquisition of know- 
ledge is a pleasure, when the mind is trained to observe 
and reflect, whether that knowledge be secular or sacred, 
and whether the object of it be the man or the boy; and 
the cause of both moral and mental ignorance prevailing 
to such an extent must, in a great measure, be acknow- 
ledged to be the want of having information sufficiently 
popularized, and the reasoning faculties properly deve- 
loped. Our land is filled with universities, and churches, 



248 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

and schools; and a liberal provision is made by govern- 
ment for the support of these ; yet scanty indeed are the 
offerings laid upon the altar of popular and elementary 
education ; but without which, much of the machinery of 
the former is too often found to be superfluous. The 
grand error has always been to consider children as 
incapable of reasoning, to have them treated as so many 
automata, the guidance of whose education any one 
might undertake. Now it is doubtless true, that children 
cannot reason so accurately or so extensively as men and 
women, but neither can they walk so far, nor endure so 
much bodily fatigue ; and it would therefore be as rea- 
sonable to deny them the liberty of using their limbs 
until they arrived at manhood, as the pleasure of exer- 
cising their reason until a similar period. On the whole, 
therefore, it seems the more onerous and responsible 
duty of the two rightly to manage the education of 
children ; and that it is at least equally the duty of a 
government to take this department of instruction under 
its patronage and to make as liberal a provision for 
it, as for the instruction of adults, is no less obvious 
than its vast importance in the economy of a nation's 
prosperity. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

The last division of education is that of the moral 
faculties of man. In comparing the structure and 
physical arrangements of the globe with the different 
kinds and degrees of life pervading nature, a very sin- 
gular analogy may here be instituted. In the primary and 
secondary formations, no traces of organic remains are 
to be found. In the tertiary, fossils of a simple kind 
only are to be met with ; but as we ascend through the 
upper strata, these memorials of extinct vitality assume a 
more elaborated appearance and finished mechanism, 
until we arrive at the surface, peopled with living tribes, 
at the head of which stands man, the last but noblest 
work of the Creator. So is it in the vegetative, sentient, 
intellectual, and moral worlds. All vegetable nature is 
pervaded by a living principle of the humblest kind, 
which may be considered the basis, or primary formation, 
of life. Higher in the scale, the inferior tribes exhibit 
a different kind of existence, in their possession of 
sensation and voluntary motion ; while above this, or in 
a manner agglomerated to it, and serving as a link 
between their nature and that of man, they are also 
endowed with instinct, which in man expands into 
what is called intellect. But beyond these different 
strata, and having nothing of mere animalism in it, there 

M 3 



250 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

is a higher principle still, as far transcending the 
vegetable, instinctive, and intellectual existences, as the 
atmosphere in its ethereal purity surpasses the grovelling 
attributes of earth. This is a principle of moral vitality, 
a purely heaven-descended life ; and like the atmosphere 
resting upon the earth as a basis, but in proportion 
to its altitude becoming attenuated, and vanishing far 
into the realms of ether, this moral life, though sus- 
tained by material elements, yet reaches from earth to 
heaven, and forms a link between the nature of man and 
the spiritual existence of the inhabitants of another 
world. 

It is also found in many stages of advancement to 
perfection in the human race. In savages it may be 
called a mere fossil, indicating that, in ages long gone by, 
it was co -extensive with the existence of the human family, 
until destroyed and buried under a deposit of grosser 
matter. In civilised life, much of this superincumbent 
soil has been removed, and an intellectual vitality being 
communicated, the plant has sprung to some maturity ; 
but it is only in the pure atmosphere of Christianity, 
that it has ever produced its heaven-born fruits. Yet by 
the light of history, a universal process of redemption 
from this moral death may no less plainly be seen in 
operation, than by the light of science may be traced 
the gradual evolving of that life, and light, and beauty, 
which now everywhere surround us in the material 
world. The savage, therefore, in whom this moral 
principle is extinct or imperfect, is little above one of 
the lower tribes. The germs of a moral existence may 
be within his breast, but they cannot pierce the stony 
soil under which they are deposited. A glimmering of 
reason may guide him in providing for his selfish 
wants and appetites, even as instinct guides an humbler 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 251 

animal to the same end. But in the enjoyment of a 
moral existence, something apart from selfish consi- 
derations is implied. There is an outgoing of the 
desires and affections towards our fellow-men, in aspi- 
rations after their welfare, and a feeling towards the 
Great Supreme in a desire to promote his benevolent 
purposes. 

It needs not be added, therefore, that these ought to 
be the guiding springs of all human conduct. But — alas 
for this being so ! — at wide intervals only, in point of 
space, and at long intervals in point of time, do 
we ever see such principles manifested. Beason, in 
bondage to the passions, has hitherto almost universally 
wielded the destinies of man. In gratifying these 
passions, it may have called to its aid whatever art can 
devise in supplying the defects of bodily strength. It 
may have subdued animals more powerful than man, 
and exacted their services to promote his ends ; and it 
may have gained a partial control even over the elements 
of nature itself. Yet, if it has thus bestowed upon man 
a superiority over the lower animals, of itself it only 
renders him a superior animal — if it creates him a lord 
of the universe, it confines his enjoyments to the lower 
domains of material nature, and without a higher 
patent of nobility he can never enter into those azure 
fields of bliss inhabited by purer and nobler spirits. It 
is by reason of the very strength of this principle, that 
it should be under a higher control than that of the 
passions ; else, like the greater strength of a fierce animal, 
the extent of its power would only be the extent of its 
danger. It must be morally subdued, that it may seek 
its gratification in the good of others, and not physically 
excited, which leads to self- gratification at the expense 
of others. Until this fact be acknowledged, and acted 



252 PHILOSOPHY OP TPAXNJN0. 

upon, human conduct will exhibit little superior to that 
of the lower tribes. Whatever the passions and 
desires of man may indicate, his intellect will assist him 
in procuring j and it may easily be seen, where clashing 
interests prevail, what will be the result— which, indeed, 
has been the result from the commencement of his his- 
tory, in those scenes of moral anarchy and confusion so 
widely spread over the face of the earth, 

In a preceding part of this work, it has been my object 
to trace the gradual unfolding of the moral principle, 
from the animalism and intellectuality of our nature, 
which have at various periods swayed the destinies of 
different sections of the world. It may now be remarked, 
that the present age seems characterised above all preced- 
ing periods, not only for the fulness of its intellectual at- 
tainments, but the commencement of a more purely moral 
manifestation. Let it not be understood, however, that 
it is in the mere possession of this power as a mental 
principle that such pre-eminence consists, but as a habit 
of life. It is to that part of moral education that appeals 
to the conduct through the understanding, and modifies 
the character into an agent for accomplishing good to 
others, and thereby reaping a greater individual happiness 
in return, that its unique characteristics may be traced. 
Physical and mental training may beautify the external 
man and ennoble his inferior powers, but moral training 
animates the soul itself with a spark divine, and assi- 
milates the character and conduct to those of the great 
Creator. In the mere possession of this moral nature, 
man enjoys a pre-eminence over the other inhabitants 
of the earth ; but it is according to the bias it receives 
in early youth, that he becomes the scourge of his 
fellow-men and a source of misery to himself, or the 
benefactor of his race and an unfailing spring of self- 
gratification. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 253 

By means of a cultivated intellect, man may penetrate 
the recesses of the earth and unfold its hidden mysteries; 
may roam abroad over its surface, and in the rolling 
ocean, the yielding air, and the waving forest, perceive 
with amazement and delight the innumerable wonders of 
creation ; or, soaring a still bolder flight, he may unravel 
the mystic dance of heaven's far-rolling orbs, may tell 
their nature, calculate their distances, and describe their 
motions ; may indulge in " thoughts that wander through 
eternity," yet the full tide of pleasure, ever flowing from 
the well-regulated affections, and the heart at peace with 
its Maker, is beyond all comparison greater. How pass- 
ing strange is it, then, that until within the last few 
years, not a single effort in a public capacity has ever 
been made properly to educate these ! Many improve- 
ments of late have doubtless been made in education, 
but, almost exclusively, these have referred to the culti- 
vation of the mental powers. No provision has been 
made for the training of the moral faculties, for restraining 
the evil propensities, and cultivating the virtuous habits 
of the young. Let me not be misunderstood : I do not 
say that moral and religious instruction has been 
neglected — there is no lack of this in our favoured land; 
and by the blessing of God, which can even work without 
means, incalculable good has been effected by it; but 
what I do say is, that the communication of mere theo- 
retical knowledge, without the means afforded for its 
practical application, is no guarantee for the establish- 
ment of a Christian character. It would be as reason- 
able to expect this, as that, after communicating a 
knowledge of the theory of music, and showing a pupil 
how to play on a certain instrument, he were to be ex- 
pected, without any practice, to discourse sweet music 
from that instrument. There must be the practice, as 
well as the knowledge, in both cases. Now it is doubt- 



254 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

less true, that most parents not only teach, but endeavour 
to train their children into the practice of piety; but 
how many parents have never themselves been trained, 
and how many more are necessarily absent from their 
children during the greater part of the day ! so that this 
all-important duty is either neglected or left to whatever 
companions or servants may fall in their way, and who 
may have been as much neglected as themselves. Neither 
is the moral teaching of the Sunday-school, much as it 
has done for the cause of Christianity, an antidote suffi- 
cient fully to counteract the wide- spread evil. The 
religious instruction there communicated, if in harmony 
with a correct system of home- training, may be a powerful 
auxiliary in the same good work. It may supply prin- 
ciples that will have an opportunity of being practised, 
and may thus prove the means of facilitating the good 
habits forming at home. And even the seeds of correct 
moral and religious principles may be there implanted 
that may spring up under the most adverse circumstances. 
But in general, what lasting benefit can accrue from the 
inculcation of merely abstract truths to the understanding, 
when the will and habits have received a different bias 
previously, and when all the desires and inclinations of 
the heart are not only repugnant to the practice of such 
truths, but have every facility for gratifying feelings of an 
opposite description ? The few good lessons of a Sunday 
evening are soon effaced from the memory amidst the 
temptations of the week. Nor can there be any means 
of moral training in a Sunday-school room, winch neces- 
sarily implies the regulation of the ordinary conduct; and 
in the promiscuous assemblages of children going and 
returning from school, temptations to swerve from the 
right path are so numerous as to render it a grave ques- 
tion indeed, whether the danger of following bad example 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 255 

in the street, is not greater than the chance of benefiting 
by the good instruction of the school. But Sunday-schools 
have certainly done much good, and far be it from me 
to depreciate their advantages, or discourage the gratui- 
tous and disinterested labourers in that well-intentioned 
undertaking. 

Eagged schools are another feature in the philanthropy 
of the present day, which present a similar error in the 
conception of what is most needed to reform society. 
The idea and intention of thus snatching the outcast 
children of great cities from the paths of crime and 
infamy, by means of an educational power, is one of the 
most Godlike enterprises that the world has yet wit- 
nessed. But truth compels the statement, that it is only the 
operation of a partially-enlightened benevolence. It is a 
misdirection of energy to give such children a mere intel- 
lectual instruction, even on the best subjects, while no 
corresponding means are afforded of moralising and 
redeeming their depraved daily habits. To prevent such 
a class from falling into crime, to which they are predis- 
posed by habits and circumstances, their social condition 
must first be improved, and themselves withdrawn from 
the temptations to crime, by alleviating the pressure of 
their physical wants. The wants of the body must 
undoubtedly be appeased before any higher principle can 
be developed. A foundation to this noble work should 
therefore be laid by initiating those children in the prac- 
tice of mechanical employments, and giving them the 
means of providing for their own bodily support, before 
an aliment suited to their higher nature be administered. 

In the latter part of the intellectual division of this sub- 
ject, it has been shown how the preceptive department of 
morality is conducted ; and it only now remains briefly to 
notice what is meant by the practical application of it. 



250 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

The remark has often been made, that in flourishing 
manufacturing districts, and other places where masses 
of people are daily congregated together, wickedness and 
immorality increase in a fearful ratio. Now, this is just 
what might be expected, for as the odds are vast indeed, 
that the greater number of these individuals are un- 
trained in the ways of godliness, from the sympathetic 
action of numbers, and the power of imitation, — if no 
countervailing force has been in operation, the minority 
will very speedily assume a kindred character. This 
sympathy of numbers, however, is a very powerful instru- 
ment for good as well as for evil ; and if the prevailing 
tone of any community be of a moral and virtuous 
character, it not unfrequently influences, and in a great 
measure subdues, the immoral tendencies of the minority. 
This, then, is the first principle in a training school 
whether it be for the richer or the poorer classes, — to 
endeavour to get the majority enlisted on the side of 
virtue, and to form thus a nucleus, or to raise a standard 
around which the less virtuous may in time rally. To 
introduce children into such society, where all they see 
and hear breathes of goodness, purity, and happiness, 
and being removed from the contaminating influence of 
evil companionship, they have both the temptations 
to evil removed, and the incentives to virtuous conduct 
placed before them. Whatever habits of rudeness, or 
selfishness, or deceit, or any other, they may have for- 
merly indulged among their street companions with 
impunity, find no sympathy. These are discountenanced 
by their new companions, and, in time, the habit of in- 
dulging them wears out. They now breathe a purer moral 
atmosphere, which of itself is no less powerful in remov- 
ing a moral disease, than a change of air, and a more 
salubrious clime, in neutralising the effects of certain 
natural complaints. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 257 

Public schools are frequently objected to altogether, 
and private tuition is eagerly sought after by some 
people ; and this upon the principle, that in the for- 
mer, children learn many mischievous and bad habits 
from their associates in school. Now, there is much 
truth in this, where there is no proper moral super- 
intendence; for in such a case the bad passions will 
undoubtedly predominate, and, like an uncultivated 
garden, the school will become a nursery of much 
that is vicious ; but if the contrary be the case, no 
private tuition, however good, can be compared with it. 
Man is born for society ; and, sooner or later, he must 
come into contact with the world. The school, then, is 
the world in miniature. Here mind comes into collision 
with mind, and the bluntness and shyness of the recluse 
give way to frankness and ease, at a period when it is 
particularly desirable ; while, instead of burying the 
generous affections of a child within his own bosom at 
home, or affording them only a limited scope, within the 
family circle, they have among his young friends at 
school abundant opportunities of being drawn forth and 
exercised into a much higher-toned benevolence. A 
properly- conducted school is, therefore, a sort of moral 
gymnasium, preparatory to the great struggle on the 
arena of life. But besides these advantages, there is a 
restraining influence constantly exercised upon the evil 
propensities and habits. " Every kind of indecency, 
disorder, evil-speaking, cruelty, want of courtesy, anger, 
revenge, injustice, impatience, covetousness, and dis- 
honesty, are suppressed as soon as they are developed ; 
while, on the contrary, all the amiable feelings and 
Christian virtues are cultivated — such as speaking truth, 
obedience to parents and all in lawful authority, honesty, 
justice, forbearance, generosity, gentleness, kindness, 
fidelity to promises, courteousness, habits of attention, 



258 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

docility, disinterestedness, kindness to inferior animals, 
pity for the lame and distressed, and the weak in intellect, 
and in general doing to others as we would wish to he 
done by."* The former of these must he subdued, 
that is, the habit of indulging in them must be worn 
out, and the latter drawn out and formed into habits. 
This cannot be done by lecturing a child about them. 
The child may know his duty as well as his instructor, 
but it is a far different thing to do it ; and it is only by 
this doing, or repetition of doings, that the habit can be 
formed. Knowledge, it is well known, and practice are 
very different things, and not by any means always found 
in the same individual. If you wish a child to be of a 
self-denying disposition, you must give him an oppor- 
tunity of endeavouring to become so. It has, however, 
been alleged by some, that in order to cultivate a self- 
denying disposition, articles of value should not be put 
out of the way of children, but in their way, and that 
they should be trained not to touch them ; and otherwise 
that they should be exposed to situations where their 
virtue might have an opportunity of carrying them off 
triumphant from temptation. But this, if true in theory, 
seems to be at least practically dangerous. Temptation 
in all cases is certainly an evil to be avoided ; else why 
have we that clause in the Lord's Prayer that teaches us 
to ask for deliverance from it ? It is true that without 
trial there can be no real virtue ; but certainly there are 
enough of trials and temptations in the world to prove 
the faith and stedfastness of grown people as well as of 
children, without needlessly multiplying them. It is in 
the very nature of our faculties to be drawn forth into 
activity when any exciting cause is placed before them; 

* Stew. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 259 

and every successive out- going of these faculties towards 
whatever object they may be directed, gives them a 
future bias towards that object The mind, therefore, 
can only be fortified against such contingencies in some 
analogous way to that by which the body is secured 
against catching certain diseases. And though it is true, 
that even bodily afflictions may sometimes have a benefi- 
cial moral and spiritual effect, yet no one would say that 
diseases ought therefore to be courted. Both temptations 
and bodily troubles are in themselves pure evils incident 
to an imperfect humanity, and their inevitable approach 
should be neutralised by a previous course of training ; 
but, as in the case of the latter, this can only be done by 
taking advantage of the premonitory symptoms, and 
destroying the predisposing causes ; so in the former, 
the faculties ought to be drawn forth and exercised upon 
objects the very reverse of those that form the temptation. 
By this means, an object which otherwise would be a 
temptation now ceases to be so, the moral attraction, 
so to speak, between it and the faculties being destroyed, 
and perhaps even a principle of antagonism established 
between them. 

" Train to forgiveness, " says Mr. Stow, " by causing 
the child to do sl generous action to another who may 
have offended him. Discourage the slightest approach 
to cruelty. Train to benevolence and generosity by 
making the child practically so, no matter how trivial 
the action or gift. The principle may be- exhibited 
equally with a penny as with a pound ; by a kind look as 
by great personal sacrifice ; by the widow's two mites as 
by the rich man's gift. If a child does a thing impro- 
perly, or neglects to do a thing it has been told to do, 
the simplest way to check such impropriety is, to cause 
the child to do the thing. He may have thrown his cap 



260 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

on the floor, instead of hanging it on a peg ; simply call 
him back, and see that he hangs it properly. You may 
have told him to walk softly up- stairs ; you hear him 
heating his feet as he ascends ; call him back, and see that 
he walks up every step in the way you wish him. This 
method repeated will produce the habit ; when a threat or 
a scold without the doing may be instantly forgotten. The 
certainty of being obliged to do is better for the memory 
than the longest speech or the severest threatening." 
To accomplish this, however, is no easy task, and it may 
well be asked, who is sufficient for it ?. Nor is it a work 
of days, or weeks, or even of months, at least in a juvenile 
school. Moral training, it cannot be denied, is here far 
less effective than in an infant school. In the latter, the 
trainer has but comparatively few bad habits to eradicate; 
he has therefore by far the start of a juvenile-master. 
The former has only to begin to do ; the latter has to 
begin by undoing. The one has only to commence 
rearing a superstructure; the other has to demolish a 
ruin, and to lay a new foundation before his edifice can 
appear. Perhaps no better illustration of this can be 
given than the parallel case of a tree, the difficulty of 
bending or training which increases in exact proportion 
to its age. At first, when young and pliant, it is easily 
moulded into whatever form or shape the gardener wishes ; 
but as it gains strength and thickness, whatever wrong 
bias it may have taken, requires both more time and 
attention to rectify, till at length it becomes an utter 
impossibility to do so. So is it with habits whether 
good or bad, they grow with our growth, and gain 
strength with our advancing years, until a period arrives 
when all human exertions to repress the one and call 
forth the other, seem to prove unavailing. And no doubt 
the grace of God is omnipotent, and can change the heart 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 261 

even of the most abandoned, at any period of life and 
without any human instrumentality. Yet must we never 
shut our eyes to the fact, that the more common way in 
which the Spirit of God manifests itself, is in blessing 
the means used in the moral education of the ungodly. 

It may here be mentioned what is, perhaps, super- 
fluous, that a system of mora] training is all founded 
upon Bible training ; in other words, on the principles 
of the immutable standard of revealed truth, and stimu- 
lated by its high and holy sanctions. To the law and 
to the testimony a uniform appeal must be made. Its 
promises must be held out as an inducement to virtue, 
and its threatenings as a warning to vice. Love to God 
the motive for keeping his commandments, and fear of 
offending him the preventive against breaking them. 
It would take up more space than is now convenient 
to enter into a detailed account of all the wrong habits 
and propensities that ought to be remedied, and of the 
right principles and conduct that should be formed in a 
course of moral education. I shall, therefore, simply 
endeavour to indicate the manifestations of the moral 
feelings, and notice one or two of the most prominent 
principles which should be borne in mind in regulating 
these. 

It has been said that a child playing in its mo- 
ther's lap with a toy is thus seeking the means of 
gratifying its senses, receiving ideas of sensation from 
a contact with objects, and laying a foundation for the 
future exercise of his reflective faculties. But his moral 
education is going on at the same time, and a similar 
process of abstraction is taking place among the feelings. 
The earliest manifestation of these is a selfish desire to 
receive mere animal gratification, and the mother is the 
source of this enjoyment. She soothes the child's first 



262 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

pains and administers to his earliest pleasures, and the first 
overflowing of his gratified feelings accordingly centres 
upon her. But a monopoly of this gratitude will not be 
■confined to her alone. As the child advances in intelli- 
gence, he will perceive around him other beings from 
whom lie also derives pleasure, and a similar feeling will 
be drawn out towards them ; and as reflection dawns, he 
will ultimately raise his gratitude to the supreme Source 
of all happiness. When, therefore, a child feels gratefully 
towards its parent, in doing so it places itself under 
obedience to her. It voluntarily, or unconsciously rather, 
surrenders a power into her hand for its own guidance, and 
she will then lead her child by the soft cords of its own 
affections. It will follow her into the right path if she 
lead the way. To the extent, also, of its affection for 
others will it confide in them and follow wherever they 
lead, and ultimately, its obedience and conformity to the 
will of God will be in proportion to its enlightened affec- 
tion and gratitude to himself. 

Now the educator must adapt himself to these mani- 
festations. He must enter into the child's pains and 
pleasures, and by attention to these gain a command 
over his affections. When he has acquired this mastery, 
he has the reins in his hands by which he may guide the 
entire conduct. The child's kindly feelings towards those 
around him will soon manifest itself in acts of kindness. 
These should be met not by praise, but by signs of 
affectionate acknowledgment. This should be a natural 
result to the child of a kind deed, a remembrance of 
which would prompt to similar acts in future, and a repe- 
tition of such acts would stamp the habit. When this 
kindly disposition has been somewhat established, his 
attention should be directed to the distresses of others, 
and a natural impulse created to alleviate them, which of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 263 

course ought, if possible, to be gratified. Such an 
impulse, indeed, should hardly be awakened unless oppor- 
tunities be also afforded to call it into action, as it is so 
liable to be trained into a mere barren sentimentality. 
Beligion must doubtless be the basis of such an education, 
and the " good works" of Scripture the means of forming 
the moral character and habits. But the instructor will 
prove incompetent to the task he has assumed, if he pro- 
ceed upon the most common mode of inculcating the 
morality of the Bible. Its practice must be antecedent 
to its precepts, and even in communicating a knowledge 
of the latter, an equally inductive mode must be adopted, 
to the formation of the habits. A child loves and 
feels kindly towards its parents and others, because they 
first manifested love and kindness to him, and God 
must be represented in a similar character before either a 
feeling or a belief of his goodness can be inspired. " We 
love him because he first loved us." Whereas if he be 
first represented as an avenging and terrible Being, who 
inflicts everlasting torture upon his creatures, — I say if 
this view of his character be given before the child is able 
fully to see the demerits of sinful conduct, God cannot be 
loved, but will be feared, and most probably hated ; and 
that religion, the very essence of which is love, mercy, and 
kindness, will be found to be a yoke too heavy to be borne. 
But no mother, nor instructor is perfect; and by the 
time that the child has advanced a little in years, many 
faults will have been developed under the best guidance, 
to remedy which a counteracting process must be resorted 
to, and go hand in hand with direct training. 

The necessity of obedience as an element in training is 
obvious to every one, but it does not so readily occur 
that an obedient and docile habit is naturally yielded to 
an instructor who establishes a just relationship between 



264 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

a child and the moral laws. An obedience to these laws 
is found to be in harmony with the child's nature, obe- 
dience is therefore naturally given to them ; but there is 
no such thing as an innate sense of moral rectitude. A 
child grows up with feelings biased in favour of one set 
of actions, and prejudiced against others, through impres- 
sions received from external causes. Hence, in mature 
life, one individual regards a certain action as virtuous, 
which another may consider immoral, and by one nation 
the customs and practices of another nation are looked 
upon as criminal, which, by the latter may be regarded as 
strictly moral. Polygamy in Turkey is reckoned no crime, 
while in England it is ; but an English child educated 
under Turkish parents would not regard it as criminal, 
neither would a Turkish child, brought up in England, 
consider it as anything but immoral. The standard of 
pure morality is neither set up by the conflicting opinions 
of mankind, nor arrived at by the innate feelings of the 
human heart. Its principles are a deduction from general 
conduct, in the observing of which the greatest amount of 
individual happiness is acknowledged by all to be derived, 
or communicated by revelation for universal guidance. 
There are, therefore, established laws that must be obeyed 
in order to secure this happiness ; or if disobeyed, the 
consequence will be a general feeling of unhappiness. 

Now as children are naturally ignorant of any higher 
rule of conduct than their own blind desires, they must 
be guided into a proper relation to these laws, and imbued 
with right principles by an instructor. If he be under 
the influence of correct moral principles himself, their 
obedience to him is an obedience of these laws, and to the 
extent of their submission to his authority will their hap- 
piness be increased, and their conduct and habits harmo- 
nise with the principles of universal morality. He is to 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 265 

them in the place of God, an executor of the Divine will, 
and in gaining the children's obedience, he must adopt 
the same means and for the same end, that the Creator of 
these laws employs in gaining the universal obedience of 
his creatures. Having gained a control over their affec- 
tions, the exertion of that power must be characterised by 
the same inflexible regularity which marks the operations 
of the Divine government, and every command be given 
for the children's ultimate benefit, irrespective of their 
immediate comfort, the consequence of which should be 
felt to be advantageous, or its neglect followed by a dis- 
advantage. These orders and their consequences should 
be as intimately connected as cause and effect, and the 
conviction thus inspired within a child's heart, would soon 
become developed into a reigning principle of implicit 
obedience to his guide and instructor. 

A child soon accommodates himself to what he feels to 
be a natural order of things, and when he finds that his 
resistance to a command, or request, or even his cries and 
tears, make no change in the calm determination of his 
superior, he submits as to an inevitable necessity, and since 
he cannot control his master's will, suffers himself to 
be controlled by it. If the master yield, however, in a 
single instance, in gratifying a wrong desire through a 
pertinacity of resistance, a retrograde movement will be 
effected, and the work of months may be lost. Nor will 
his object be gained should the trainer be ever so inflex- 
ible and just, if much asperity of tone and manner attach 
to his injunctions. This will indicate an approach to a 
spirit of vindictiveness, nothing of which is congenial to 
a course of purely moral discipline. It represses those 
affections by which so strong a hold is obtained over the 
character, and elicits fear, which is a physical instinct ; 
and though a temporary submission may follow, there will 



266 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

be no step gained in securing an obedient habit. Nothing 
but a steady adherence to a system of treatment based 
upon a kindness of feeling, and operating inflexibly upon 
enlightened principles, in restraining what is wrong, and 
encouraging what is right, will ever impress the obedient 
disposition. 

An adherence to veracity is also a habit that ought 
assiduously to be cultivated in early years. Its violation 
is a breach of one of the ten commandments, and no 
unusual way in which it is denounced, is by dogmatically 
telling children that it is a sin which they must not com- 
mit under pain of eternal punishment. But like every 
other moral duty, the obligation to speak truth may be 
shown from the evil consequences of its infringement, and 
the benefits of its observance. This may be illustrated by 
some supposed case in which a falsehood may be seen to 
be as injurious in its nature and effects, as robbery and 
murder. Its reactive influence upon the propagator 
himself, may also be seen, in destroying his credibility 
and the confidence of others towards him, and its abstract 
heinousness deduced from its general evil consequences 
upon society in destroying all mutual confidence. The 
different shades of falsehood should likewise be shown 
by analogous examples, and its wrong tendency mani- 
fested even when no confidence is violated, such as in 
many idle tales for amusement, doubles entendre, and 
exaggerated statements. The error of such falsehoods 
does not so much consist in any positive mischief, as in 
their tendency to induce a habit of deception ; and among 
children, where a single element may turn the scale in the 
formation of character, all such ambiguities should be 
strenuously discouraged. Those who indulge in such 
literal falsehoods, too, unconsciously impair their own 
general veracity, as in a historical novel where truth and 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 267 

fiction are indiscriminately blended, no implicit reliance 
can be placed upon any of its statements. The reality 
and essence of a moral truth, or falsehood, should be clearly 
pictured out to the mind. A false statement made even 
with a good design should be shown to be wrong, as tend- 
ing to impair an absolute confidence in true statements. 
Prevarication should be seen as a falsehood in reality, 
though couched in ambiguous language, as the intention 
is to deceive. Intended deceit is thus a lie in whatever 
way it may be manifested. If a speaker uses words, and 
attaches to them ideas different from what he knows the 
hearer will apply, he lies, by intentionally deceiving the 
other, though he has uttered no literal falsehood. Or, 
in a substantially true statement, he may deceive by con- 
veying more than the simple truth, or omitting some of 
its most important particulars. A lie may also be acted 
by a gesture of the body, or some other outward mani- 
festation, intentionally conveying a false impression. All 
such forms of deception, with many other modifications 
of the same vice, must therefore be illustrated, the motives 
to truth enforced by its personal and social advantages, 
and its obligation enjoined as a duty contained in the 
word of God. 

Anger. — This feeling must also be analyzed to chil- 
dren, and its effects shown. It is either a passive affec- 
tion of the mind, a pain felt on receiving an injury, or a 
desire stimulating to active revenge. The former should 
be modified, but the latter entirely repressed. The 
feeling of anger may be alleviated in intensity, and short- 
ened in its duration -by reason and reflection. A thorough 
investigation into the grounds of an offence, will often 
strip it of many aggravating circumstances that the first 
burst of passion threw around it. If it be found that no 
injury was really intended, the pain should be endured 

n 2 



268 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

merely as the result of an accident, or if inflicted for a 
malignant purpose, still, the irritating impression may be 
allayed by striving to forget it, and considering the 
aggressor only in the light of a dangerous companion. 
The feeling of anger will die away with a recollection of 
the injury, and the folly of keeping alive such an impres- 
sion may be illustrated by the similar example of need- 
lessly irritating a bodily wound, and keeping it always 
painful. But Scripture suggests the most powerful 
motive to subdue resentment. " If ye forgive not men 
their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive 
you." Let a child see what would be his own position 
if his offences against God should be entertained in the 
Divine mind in the same spirit that he would be disposed 
to brood over an injury done to himself, and he will find 
a sufficient cause to feel differently towards the offender, 
and endeavour to obliterate the offence from his memory. 
Or let him in imagination change positions with the 
offender, and ask himself how he should wish to be dealt 
by in such circumstances, and he will likely put a more 
charitable construction upon the motives of the former, 
and see less cause for his own mental uneasiness. In 
short, there are many ways in which he might be reasoned 
out of his passion. 

Yet anger has its legitimate functions in the mental 
economy, and when kept within due bounds, is a just 
and a right feeling. It is by an excessive action upon 
the mind that it increases into revenge, which must be 
entirely suppressed. This feeling, instead of desiring to 
overlook, magnifies an offence, and stirs up the animal 
passions to inflict pain in return. It argues, therefore, 
the possession of less reason in any one thus subject to 
its influence. Being an impulse of the lower nature, it 
must be met on its own ground by an appeal to motives of 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 269 

self-interest. It should be represented not only as a crime 
but as cowardice, and another mode of obtaining a much 
greater satisfaction shown, by doing good in return for 
the evil received. The superiority of this principle may 
be illustrated from many examp]es, and it is one that 
children can more readily appreciate and reduce to prac- 
tice than grown-up people. To carry into effect this 
divine sentiment, therefore, in a training school, is one 
of the noblest employments that can engage the skill and 
energies of man. 

Justice. — The foundation of this virtue is to do unto 
others as we should wish to be done unto, and there is 
no better way of implanting a conviction of its necessity, 
and inducing its practice, than by proceeding upon the 
same golden rule. Every boy has some property belong- 
ing to him, his clothes, his play-things, or his books, and 
if another takes away any of these without his consent, 
he feels grieved and vexed at their loss. Let this feeling, 
then, be a first principle to start from, in the process 
of moral induction, towards impressing upon him an idea 
of the absolute necessity of just dealing. Begin with his 
internal knowledge, and build outwards. Tell him what 
another's feeling would be in similar circumstances, and 
he will understand it, and feel a motive for respecting the 
property of his playfellows. Yet if some temptation 
prove too strong for this feeling of sympathy, or if his 
selfish, be stronger than his benevolent feelings, the 
sense of shame attending such an action will prove an 
auxiliary against him. Or, if he has an attachment to 
his master, or parent, a fear of offending him will be an 
additional preventive. He must also be warned of the 
wickedness of the action in the sight of God, and deterred 
by the fear of disobeying him. But this is an extreme 
infringement of justice that comparatively few children 



270 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

are guilty of; its more common manifestation is in unfair 
dealing, evil speaking, and other of its modifications, all 
of which must be illustrated with examples, their disad- 
vantages made manifest, and the benefits of honesty and 
a respect to character and feelings shown in a similar way, 
by appealing to some previous internal conviction. The 
best opportunities for developing this habit are during 
the games of children, in watching the progress of the 
players, and guiding their movements, when the very fact 
of overlooking them will restrain any unjust or unfair 
tendency so apt at such times to arise. 

Benevolence. — Both in Scripture and philosophy this 
virtue stands in the highest rank. It is the same principle 
as the " charity" of Scripture, and the " good-will to men" 
proclaimed by angels from heaven. It is also the active 
part of that love which was said to be the fulfilling or 
fulfilment of the law, and of that " new commandment" 
which comprised the sum and substance of the entire 
decalogue. The definition of " pure and undefiled reli- 
gion" is also given, simply as the practice of benevolence. 
That there is a corresponding faculty in the mind to obey 
its dictates may, therefore, be presumed a priori, and 
modern philosophy establishes the truth of the supposi- 
tion. In every well-balanced mind benevolence is easily 
educed, as it is inherent in all, and by cultivation may 
gain pre-eminence in any. All that is necessary is to afford 
opportunities for its development by leading it into action. 
A child first loves its mother because it receives gratifica- 
tion from her, and it loves others from a similar cause, 
but this is not benevolence. To feel kindness in such 
cases is natural gratitude, which is a kind of price paid for 
value received, having no merit in it. " If ye love those 
that love you, what thank have ye ?" The feeling must 
be drawn out and strengthened to a much greater degree 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 27 i 

than this. A child must be led to feel kindly towards 
those from whom he received no previous benefit, and 
even from whom he can expect no gratitude in return for 
his kindnesses, nor anything but the mere pleasure of 
doing them good. There must be a disposition within him, 
ever prompting to active goodness, instead of cherishing 
mere kindly feelings ; and instead of being under the 
obligations of gratitude to others, he should desire to educe 
gratitude from them, or at least to do them kindnesses 
for the pleasure of doing so. It may be said, however, 
that even this is but a selfish motive, and it is partly 
so ; but I am at present considering the education of the 
feeling irrespective of the motive, and as in other parts of 
education, an appeal must be sometimes made to a lower 
faculty to develop a higher, and guide it into action, so in 
benevolence, it is equally legitimate to show its individual 
advantages, that a personal interest in these may give the 
first stimulus to its weaker manifestations. Besides, 
everlasting happiness is the scriptural motive to benevo- 
lence, and this is essentially the same quality of happi- 
ness which is felt to be the natural consequence of a tem- 
poral good action. The motive is, therefore, only different 
in degree, from that suggested by the will of God, as 
the rule of benevolence. When this motive is felt, it 
becomes a rule of conduct, and the will of God is thus 
obeyed practically before reason deduces the abstract 
commandment; so that he who rules the child by laying 
hold of this motive, is pursuing a course strictly parallel 
with the will and commandments of God. It is also 
similar in principle to training to a practical knowledge 
of things before giving their names. 

The first manifestation of this feeling may be seen in 
a child's little acts of kindness towards its parent, or 
guide, which should be carefully rewarded by the fond 



272 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

caress or endearing smile. This would encourage to 
the performance of similar acts in future, and thus the 
continued outward tendency of the feeling would in time 
become strengthened into a habit of kindness. An 
abstract pleasure would soon attach to the exercise of the 
feeling independently of that arising from the approba- 
tion of its parent, or instructor. It should then be 
directed to neutral objects, and kindnesses done for the 
mere pleasure of doing them; nor is it true that such 
deeds, if judiciously applied, will often meet with ungrate- 
ful returns. There is less natural ingratitude in human 
nature than is generally suspected, but the reason why so 
much of it is apparently manifested, is because so little 
pure and disinterested kindness is to be found. At all 
events, few can resist the spontaneous kindness of a little 
child in offering some trifling gift ; and what child does 
not feel a glow of pleasure when its gift is kindly received, 
and gratefully acknowledged ? The feeling thus culti- 
vated, will by degrees show itself in various other ways, 
springing up and spreading out in many branches. It 
will assume a readiness to oblige, and the obligation 
should be as readily acknowledged. It will also desire to 
relieve distress, and it should always have the means of 
doing so. It is the foundation of good nature, good 
temper, and amiability ; it will therefore charitably con- 
sider the failings and faults of others. To all such 
objects, and many others, the moral trainer must find the 
means of guiding the manifestation of this heavenly sen- 
timent, and calling it forth into a ruling habit. 

But it is also liable to abuse ; and if acting without 
counsel and reflection, its benefactions may do as much 
harm as good, and its extreme action cause itself to lux- 
uriate into a very dangerous principle. It may be over- 
tasked and become diseased, as well as enfeebled from 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 273 

inaction. It may be increased to an nndue intensity by 
a false excitement, and unregulated by prudence may 
indulge in indiscriminate acts of charity or almsgiving, 
which may as readily administer to the depravity of the 
indolent as the necessities of the deserving. In another 
form it may induce a wasteful and extravagant disposition, 
hurrying its possessor on to ruin, or exposing him to the 
designs of the cunning, or it may soften down his cha- 
racter into that of the mere good-natured simpleton. 

It is doubtless an excess of this feeling, too, joined to 
a high degree of religious fervour, which induces many 
to give large sums of money to foreign purposes, in prefer- 
ence to home charities. Its healthiest operation is most 
frequently to be found in unobtrusive individual endea- 
vours to alleviate poverty and distress wherever found. 
It is an indwelling desire to communicate happiness to 
all men whenever an opportunity occurs, and whatever 
may be the nature of the occasion. This is a principle, 
therefore, of the highest importance in the moral nature 
of man, and requiring the utmost care and skill, not only 
to call it into exercise, but to guide to a proper choice of 
objects and occasions for its manifestation. Happily 
there are many examples afforded in history for its illus- 
tration, and in the precepts and life of Christ, a golden 
treasury of its richest fruits may be found. " And as ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye also to them 
likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what 
thank have ye ? for sinners also love those that love them. 
And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what 
thank have ye ? for sinners also do even the same. And 
if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what 
thank have ye ? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive 
as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, 
and lend, hoping for nothing again ; and your reward 

N 3 



274 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the High- 
est : for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be 
ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." 
Nor is there a single precept given that had not a living 
illustration in his own spotless life. 

Such, then, is the manner in which certain of the 
vicious propensities must be attempted to be suppressed, 
and opposite tendencies called forth; and I shall now 
only sum up in one word the end which must be aimed 
at in this as in all the other divisions of education, — 
namely, to form good habits. The formation of a 
virtuous and good character is the sum and substance, 
the alpha and the omega, of moral training. And 
here I cannot but remark the disadvantage under 
which a school of this kind must labour compared 
with another that proceeds upon the popular method. It 
is not attempted by some intellectual display to exhibit the 
scholars to advantage before strangers. In fact, this is 
believed to have an immoral tendency, as being apt to 
generate feelings of pride and self- consequence in a few, 
and envy in others. The regulation of the affections, and 
the formation of correct habits of thinking, are the prin- 
cipal objects, and these are results riot visible to the 
casual observer. The acquisition of mere reading and 
writing, and acquiring ever so extensive a knowledge of 
precepts and rules, either moral or intellectual, are not by 
any means the most important objects to be gained; they 
only fall under the numerous class of means in operation 
for a certain end, yet it may confidently be affirmed 
that there is no well-conducted training school, where 
these are not at least on a par with any other mere 
teaching school. As the principles of the former must, 
therefore, be recognised as in harmony with nature, I 
would thus beg, with every feeling of respect, to recom- 



FHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 275 

mend them, not only to the members of the scholastic 
profession, but to parents and all who have an interest 
in the education of the young. 

It may naturally have been expected, that a word or 
two should have been here said regarding corporal 
punishments as an agency in moral training, but such 
a system recognises not that most degrading and ex- 
asperating mode of correcting offences. It is conceived, 
that to treat children in almost every respect with the 
same deference and courtesy that are used towards our 
equals, comes much nearer the correct standard than 
most people think. And if auy person imagine that he 
will gain his end better by applying harsh means to his 
neighbour and coercing him into compliance with his 
wishes, than by a spirit of Christian courtesy and per- 
suasion, of course he will advocate a similar treatment of 
children. The scriptural authority on the point, too, 
must be admitted; yet when the same object can be 
effected by other means, it is in strict harmony with all 
the arrangements of Providence to lean to the side of 
mercy and adopt these. 

Neither is it less a principle in moral science, that 
kindness is power, whether applied to man or beast, than 
the corresponding maxim regarding knowledge. Love, 
and not fear, must be the ruling principle, otherwise the 
boundary line separating between moral and physical 
government has assuredly been passed ; and as certainly 
as a judicious application of the former will produce 
obedience in all cases, so will the latter only harden the 
disposition and render the disobedient still more so. 
The fable of the wind and sun contending against the 
traveller has a moral application of the highest import- 
ance in training. And the same principle of kindness 
applies equally to the lower animals. A dog belonging 



276 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

to a man of a violent and irascible nature will assume a 
kindred snappishness and quarrelsomeness, and though 
beaten ever so much, will only become the more 
vicious. Whereas, who has not heard of the docile 
disposition and gentle manners of the Arabian courser, 
whose master would sooner think of inflicting punish- 
ment upon himself than of laying a rude hand upon that 
affectionate creature ? 

Nor does one often see a fractious horse pass along the 
more willingly for a beating. His proud spirit, no less 
than his aching hide, winces under the ungenerous treat- 
ment, and he embraces the first opportunity of turning 
restive again. Kindness is an omnipotent governing- 
power pervading all sentient nature. That people can be 
ruled by fear is true. Slaves are so managed ; but one 
has only to look at the present moment to the southern 
states of North America, to see whether such a system 
of terror will not very speedily undergo a reaction. 
The proprietors of human flesh in those places will un- 
questionably be overwhelmed in their own abhorrent 
devices to prolong such a system. 

I do not at present enter upon the question, what kind 
of moral stimuli of an extrinsic nature may be necessary 
to induce good conduct, and repress the vicious tenden- 
cies of the young. It may only be remarked in general, 
that rewards and punishments, even of a moral kind, are 
at best but necessary evils. Much cannot be said in 
defence of a system of bribing to obedience, though 
there is, perhaps, not much harm in that nevertheless. 
It is an appeal to the lower feelings, and of course may 
be resorted to when higher motives fail. It may be 
necessary before a habit is formed, and as a means of 
inducing that habit, but it ought to be left off when 
the habit itself has become the guiding power. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 277 

The preceding analysis of the object of education in its 
threefold capacity, presents of course hut a very limited 
outline of the entire duties of an educator. It would, 
indeed, be impossible to particularise these in detail, not 
only from their number but infinite variety of application. 
Each of the sciences of physics, intellect, and morals, too, 
is but in progress of being fully understood, and conse- 
quently the existence of many duties that he ought to 
perform is yet unknown. The best qualified instructor 
can therefore be only partially informed as to his duties, 
and in many things must grope his way by his own 
experience alone. Nor will the best information guide 
him to a correct practice of these duties : his own cha- 
racter must be previously trained as a model to fashion 
others by. In short, a properly qualified educator must 
be a perfect man, and there is none such upon earth. 
All that can be done is to carry into effect those well- 
ascertained principles of mental philosophy which bear 
upon the practice of his calling, by establishing and 
encouraging institutions for the formation of a normal 
character up to such requirements. 

Much has also been said and written about raising 
the social status of the educator, but this would certainly 
follow if society had just grounds for entertaining a 
higher estimate of the intrinsic character of his profes- 
sion. Hitherto, it is no breach of charity to say, the 
professional character of the majority of schoolmasters has 
raised them as high in society as they deserved. What- 
ever may have been their private worth, by entering a 
profession antiquated in its forms and inadequate in its 
qualifications to the great end designed by it, they assumed 
a social position similar to a man of inherent moral worth, 
but rude manners, in a fashionable drawing-room. 
In the eye of taste he would be ridiculous, however his 



278 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

native excellence might be appreciated. If the end of 
the profession were the sole criterion of deciding its 
social rank, it would probably stand much higher than it 
does ; but its means to gain this end have hitherto de- 
pressed it ; its manners have excluded it from the posi- 
tion due to its morals. If, therefore, enlightened modes 
of education be cultivated and adopted by the profession, 
they will prove the means of advancing its importance 
in the social econony, and its professors will be advanced 
along with it. 

Various are the causes that have combined in depressing 
the educator in social esteem. In ancient Greece and Eome 
the office was generally filled by slaves, and consequently 
held in degradation by the free-born of those countries. 
Nor is it likely that during the dark ages, if such an 
office at all existed, it would be held in much higher 
respect. And when a revival of letters came, and 
the dead languages were translated into living tongues, 
the same sentiments were transfused into the latter, and 
gained currency among the customs of modern days. 
Neither was the office redeemed from this degradation in 
any degree by the personal qualifications and modes of 
government of those who administered its functions. 
Their teaching duties were confined to reading, writing, 
and accounts, with a sprinkling of the dead languages 
— the mere instruments of acquiring knowledge, not 
knowledge itself. It was therefore no higher than a 
mechanical employment in point of intellectual labour, and 
hence he who was employed in it gained no higher con- 
sideration than was due to a mechanic. But still less did 
he either deserve or gain respect from the modes of disci- 
pline resorted to in checking the waywardness of youth, 
by compelling an abject submission to his tyrannical 
authority through fear of bodily punishment. That 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 279 

society, indeed, should be somewhat tardy in recognising 
as gentlemen, individuals whose duties were so similar in 
their nature to those occasionally performed by "the 
drummer of a regiment, the whipper-in of a pack of 
hounds, or the policeman of a city/' cannot, on the whole, 
be looked upon as a very unhealthy state of social 
feeling. And certainly no other element in the cha- 
racter of a schoolmaster has ever militated so strongly 
against his social elevation as the use of this degrading 
kind of punishment. 

It is true there are other classes whose duties are no 
less vindictive, admitted to the best society, but there is 
at least no such apparent incongruity in their callings. 
Those of the schoolmaster relate chiefly to the mental 
powers. He thus enters, in point of fact, upon a sphere 
of labour above that of the more favoured classes, and 
when he descends to physical means to gain his higher 
ends, he practically acknowledges his incompetency to 
sustain that moral rank, and becomes liable to ridicule. 
This ridicule extends to the profession, and all its mem- 
bers come to be regarded as occupying the same false 
position. While other classes, too, such as the army, 
the navy, and the bar, direct their punitive and aggressive 
measures against men capable of defending themselves, 
and many of them often expose their own lives in doing so, 
the school flagellator directs his cowardly punishments 
against mere helpless infancy ; so that as long as society 
prefers courage to cowardice, cool temper to irritability, and 
talent to incompetency, either the individual or profession 
that gives proofs of such disqualifications must be kept 
in the back- ground. It is the profession itself, there- 
fore, that mast throw off the stigma that has so long 
attached to it both as regards its incapacity and cruelty ; 
and while the overwhelming importance of its object 



280 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

must be acknowledged by all, there is no doubt that the 
right thinking part of the community will readily accede 
to its strong claims for advancement in the social scale. 
As the question of corporal punishments, however, is one 
of the greatest importance, both as regards the educator 
and education, I shall devote the following chapter exclu- 
sively to an examination of the practice, and endeavour to 
suggest the means of its prevention by indicating a 
course of moral discipline. 



CHAPTEK XV. 

In the preceding chapter I have said that the present 
age is distinguished above every former period for the 
practical manifestation of a moral influence in the guid- 
ance of human conduct. But as this power is only 
beginning to be acknowledged, and its operations are the 
result of individual and isolated exertions, it has still to 
struggle against the might and mastery of formerly exist- 
ing institutions, framed upon a far different principle. 
Many of these have been based upon the lower feelings 
of human nature and conducted by intellectual means, 
for purely selfish purposes. Their establishment was 
therefore but an artificial extension of animalism, in 
which superior degrees of intelligence only increased the 
means of aggressive violence, or secured a more sure 
defence from the violence of others. Hence the existence 
of armies and navies, with all their death- dispensing 
apparatus and machinery. What are all these but a 
mighty exertion of intellect to seize and keep possession 
for selfish purposes ? In many cases it is " might 
over right," but in all cases a departure from the prin- 
ciple of rendering " good for evil." And if their necessity 
can be at all defended, it must be on the plea of other 
nations acting with equal selfishness, which only the 
more strongly proves the same melancholy statement. 



282 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

No wonder is it, then, when society receives its first 
impression from an iron mould like this, that it should 
itself become indurated, and convey a similar impression 
to its various individual institutions. Army and navy disci- 
pline is mere physical coercion. Soldiers and sailors are 
flogged into obedience, and kept in subjection through 
fear. Even civil government is a pure compulsion, 
backed by an appeal to physical force, and capital punish- 
ments, banishment, and imprisonment, the usual means 
employed in reclaiming refractory subjects. But what- 
ever may be said in defence of this iron rule, where the 
mere physical wants of man are legislated for, and where 
the subject himself is little more than the fragment of a 
machine, in those institutions where mind and moral 
faculties are under discipline, and where even the germs 
of a spiritual existence ought to be cultivated, anything 
like a system of terror- training is egregiously out of 
place. The intellect can never be held in fetters forged 
by human hands, nor stimulated to any healthful activity 
by bodily stripes. To chain the viewless winds, and 
calm the heaving ocean, are not more impossible. 

Where such methods are resorted to in the present day 
in schools, they are still the fragments of barbarism, and 
a line of conduct indicated by the passions in supremacy, 
— as much so as that which leads inferior animals to 
retaliate upon one another. The only difference, indeed, 
seems to be, not in the animus which prompts to such 
punishments, but in the medium through which they are 
carried into effect. Reason has suggested more artificial 
and complicated modes of thus gratifying the passions. 
It is a more polished and effective weapon than instinct, 
but the wielding power is substantially the same. And, to 
carry out the metaphor, it is only the glare of this bright 
instrument that dazzles the eye and prevents us from 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 283 

seeing the malignancy of the power that unsheathes it. It 
is only the perverted reason of man that enables him so suc- 
cessfully to hide the unreasonableness of his conduct ; and 
much it is to be feared that even the arguments adduced in 
support of such treatment are often given against the 
secret convictions of those who adduce them. Nor does 
it require, certainly, any great degree of mental acuteness 
to see, that an error in judgment can never be repaired 
by any bodily infliction, any more than a physical de- 
formity can be cured by a mere effort of mind. And as 
a moral offence proceeds but from one or other of two 
causes, — either a perversity of the will, or an inveteracy 
of habit, — it is only the former that can ever be rectified 
by a mental influence, while immoralities which have 
gained the force of habits are far beyond the reach of 
mere precept, and can only be counteracted by opposite 
habits. How vain, then, is it to attempt reaching these 
by merely material influences — that is, by bodily punish- 
ments ! 

But this discrepancy between opinion and action — ■ 
between the dictates of conscience and the promptings of 
passion, proves at least a sort of transitionary state, and 
an approach to better things. And as in the analogy 
adduced, where instinct merges into intellect, so in the 
treatment of offences a very perceptible change is taking 
place in the world. Punishments, in theory at least, are 
conducted more upon intellectual principles, and less 
upon the impulse of an instinctive vengeance. People now 
reason upon the necessity of bodily punishments, and in 
awarding such, endeavour to apportion a proper amount of 
pain to the magnitude of the crime. But it is still a vica- 
rious punishment ; and I repeat, that it is equally unjust to 
inflict an injury upon the feelings for a bodily defect, as 
to inflict bodily pain for a moral delinquency. 



284 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

Having premised this general statement, in the follow- 
ing remarks I shall merely select a few instances at 
random, by way of illustrating this proposition : — That a 
system of moral training is not a thing naturally adopted 
by a teacher ; that it is a generalisation drawn from 
human conduct by an intellectual process, and must 
therefore be referred to intellectually, in guiding the 
conduct ; or, in short, that the passions must be held in 
check by the judgment, and the judgment itself under 
control of the moral faculties. 

Suppose, then, a boy talking loudly to his companions 
in school : he oifends his master's sense of propriety, and 
ruffles the tranquillity of his mind. The latter commands 
the boy to be silent ; and perhaps he becomes so. Ten 
to one, however, the command is given with some aspe- 
rity of manner, and in an angry tone of voice, which are 
neither more nor less than the result of a vindictive 
feeling, prompting a retaliation for the injury he himself 
sustained. It is substantially the same feeling that 
prompts one boy to return another a blow who has struck 
him. Now the boy, as has been said, may obey his 
master, and be still by such means, as well as by an 
opposite treatment ; but to a moral certainty the germ of 
a vindictive feeling has been implanted in his mind 
against his master. The angry feeling was evidently 
governing the intellect, and as far as the cause of such 
an ebullition was concerned, the individual acted on a 
level with the inferior creation. Anger was first felt at 
the boy's disobedience, and an instinct impelled the 
master to this outward manifestation of his displeasure ; 
but the result was entirely of a vindictive character, and 
made in perfect forgetfulness or ignorance of the moral 
tendency of such conduct. The intellect, so far as it 
had to do in the case by shaping the angry feeling into 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 285 

words, was simply an instrument; whereas the angry 
feeling should have acted the part of a monitor to the in- 
tellect, giving notice of the fault, that it might have been 
dealt with according to some reasonable mode of treat- 
ment, An inferior animal would have acted in the same 
way ; it would have vented its feelings in an angry growl, 
or have wreaked its fury in some bodily infliction. Both 
would thus be acting from an instinctive impulse ; whereas 
the former of course should have taken reason as a guide. 
On the part of the master it was the natural and untrained 
feeling arising spontaneously, and manifesting itself in 
this aggressive form. It was acting blindly aud without 
the control of reason. 

It is not asserted, however, that it is wrong to enter- 
tain a feeling of anger. Anger is a good feeling, and 
implanted within us for good purposes. It is indeed 
given to protect from injuries, — that is, to make the 
aggressor sensible of his wrong, and prevent a repetition 
of it. But the point is, how is this best to be done, and 
there is an abundant answer furnished in the sublimest 
of all moral precepts, — " Overcome evil with good," — an 
answer that all the philosophy of the world never before 
supplied. To expect that the child's talkative or trifling 
inclination would be restrained by exhibiting an angry 
aspect and bitter words, would be equally reasonable 
as to expect that a distemper could be cured by irritating 
the part most infected. The angry feeling must therefore 
be kept entirely in subjection to the judgment. It may 
prompt the latter to the discharge of its duty, but it must 
never take the duty in hand itself. The mind, guided 
by experience, and upon a moment's reflection, will see, 
that the proper way to proceed is, to treat the case as if 
no personal inconvenience had been at all experienced. 
Let the child be kindly admonished or gently reminded 



286 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of his error by a motion of the hand, accompanied by a 
calm look, and the same thing will be effected : but more 
will also be done. The harsh word would suppress the 
noise only to break out the more violently on the first 
opportunity ; but a calm and affectionate remonstrance, 
besides repressing the particular act, throws a soothing 
influence over the whole character, forming the best 
preventive against any repetition of it. 

The obvious inference from this is, that severe scolding 
and threatening, no less than bodily punishments, are 
morally injurious. Indeed, what are they but a species of 
punishment ? It is a wounding of the feelings, an inflic- 
tion of moral pain, which may be rendered much more 
acute than any corporal sufferings; and in flogging schools, 
too, they derive much of their poignancy from being a 
mere reflection of the rod, or rather the darkening shadow 
of the coming storm. In timid children, in fact, it is 
more a dread of what is beyond the scolding which in- 
fluences them,' than the mere scolding itself, against 
which they very soon become hardened. 

The basis of a remedy, therefore, for the fault specified, 
and for every other act of disobedience, is to educe 
and cultivate a kindly feeling in children towards him 
whom they ought to obey ; and, to lay this foundation, 
kind looks, words, and actions, must first be exhibited 
towards them. These will prove like so much good 
seed that will produce a kindred fruit in whatever soil it 
may be sown, more or less, of course, according to the 
previous state of cultivation. The other mode may be 
compared to lopping off some excrescences from a noxious 
plant, only giving increased facilities to the stem to send 
forth a greater number of rank shoots in other directions. 
The plant itself must be dug up, and the soil rendered 
unfit for any "root of bitterness " to live in it. It should 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 287 

ever be remembered, therefore, that a display of angry 
conduct not only has no effect whatever, in repressing a 
disobedient tendency, but the very contrary effect. I 
repeat, that compliance with any request, or any number 
of requests, may be gained by such conduct, but far 
different is it in principle, from the constraining and 
habitual tendency which prompts the child at once to 
respond to the call of duty. 

Now if such be the result where mere words and feelings 
are exhibited, how much more culpable and erroneous is 
the too frequent custom of applying physical violence to 
enforce obedience ! Children from custom begin to dis- 
regard the angry words of their master, who is obliged to 
call to his aid an additional degree of coercion. He 
shakes them roughly, or gives them a sudden box on the 
ear. But let any one observe the effects of such treat- 
ment even on a boy of generally obedient and good 
habits. A frown comes over his countenance and he 
mutters something of defiance, on hearing which, the 
master, most likely, repeats the blow with interest ; and 
now the wrath and fury of a demon have taken possession 
of him, and a feeling of the most stubborn resistance 
engendered against, and by, the very person who foolishly 
thought thus to bend the child's disposition to his wishes. 
A most unfortunate figure of speech this tending of the 
disposition is, at least when used in this sense. Like 
many other metaphors, it has deceived the world long. 
A child's disposition can be bent, however, easily and 
pleasantly, by gentle means, — but by superior physical 
force, • never. A spirit of obstinacy is aroused that will 
bid defiance to all opposition. The disposition may thus 
be broken, but it cannot be bent. In the case supposed, 
the master would have inflicted an injury upon the child's 
moral nature, which the committing to memory and to 



288 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

judgment too, of all the precepts concerning obedience 
ever promulgated, could never remove. It may be 
counteracted by a different line of action, but no reason- 
ing on earth can convince him that he has not been 
wronged, simply because he feels it. 

But a boy accustomed to be thus roughly handled will 
very soon require a more cruel treatment still. Like one 
giving way to the seductive influences of opium, whose 
relaxed nerves require a constant supply of the stimulus, 
such harsh measures must be constantly plied, to ensure 
even a modicum of obedience. Hence the painful and 
humiliating spectacle of some masters never intermitting 
the use of the rod, but walking about amidst their trem- 
bling charge with ferula in hand, an apt impersonation of 
American slave-drivers, but from the circumstance of the 
objects of their punishment being unprotected infancy, 
infinitely more revolting to a humane mind. And it is 
all bad enough when such a course is deemed necessary 
to ensure obedience, or to repress some really immoral 
and wicked acts. In this case it is simply a mistaken 
mode of treating such offences, — a grievous one indeed 
to the object of it. But the cause of such punishments 
may perhaps have emanated from the children themselves 
in their own thoughtless conduct, and in this respect 
they are only on a level with their seniors in the world, 
many of whose faults, from the customs and etiquette of 
modish society, often draw down upon them consequences 
much more severe than they ever deserved. But the case 
has no parallel in point of cruelty when a boy, conscious 
of his own natural inability to perform some mental task, 
finds that he must inevitably succumb to the lash. This 
is no hypothetical case. It occurs almost every day, in 
every school in the empire where corporal punishment is 
resorted to. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 289 

Take, for instance, the case of a boy naturally deficient 
in the faculty of language, but classed with another more 
largely endowed with that faculty. It is evident that the 
latter by very little exertion will overtake a task to which 
the former is utterly inadequate. Such, in fact, is a 
difference simply arising from a certain configuration of 
the brain, or at all events depending on some physical 
cause, over which, of course, he has no possible control. 
The gifted boy has therefore no more merit, morally 
speaking, in outstripping his class-fellow, than a fleet 
racer would have in a contest with a dray-horse. But the 
same tasks are usually allotted to each, and while the 
boy who by force of mere natural endowments is praised 
for getting that which to him cost little trouble, the 
boy denied by Providence the same faculty in equal 
strength, but who, perhaps, exerted himself more than the 
other and failed, receives the recompense of his labours in 
a castigation. Mental ability and the possession of 
certain faculties in different degrees of strength and acti- 
vity, are as much the mere endowments of nature and 
Providence, as a strong constitution and a vigorous 
bodily frame ; it were therefore as just and reasonable 
to punish a boy who should fail in a trial of mere bodily 
strength with another, as him who fails in the mental 
struggle. Besides, one boy is not only thus rewarded 
for possessing what he received from Providence as a 
gift, but by this invidious system of attaching a moral 
consideration to a mere accident of mind, another boy is 
punished on his account. In a class, lessons are seldom 
adapted to the capacity of the inferior boys, but to that 
of the more forward, for whose superior endowments the 
former are thus made to suffer. Yet it is hard to say on 
which of the two such treatment sheds the most baneful 
influence. One boy has his love of esteem, or, in com- 

o 



290 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

mon language, his pride, trained to excess in finding 
himself over-praised for his slight exertions, and a feeling 
of vanity and arrogance supervenes, that may prove the 
hane of his future happiness; and another, feeling himself 
degraded and maltreated undeservedly, may sink into 
the gloomy and careless dunce, cherishing a spirit of 
resentment against his master, and of envy towards his 
more fortunate rival. The self-esteem of the latter is thus 
unduly repressed, hy which, that confidence in his own 
powers, so necessary for every mental effort, is destroyed. 
Or supposing it to be a task in which a mere exercise 
of memory is concerned, how widely different are children 
constituted in this respect ! The natural ability of one 
boy will enable him to get a lesson by heart in five 
minutes, which would require another an hour or more. 
How different is the actual amount of labour here, and 
how mortifying is it for the less gifted boy to see his 
comrade praised and rewarded for his trifling exertion, 
while all his own labour only procured him a beating ! 
But reverse the case, — set a boy of a good memory but 
deficient in judgment, and one of acute reasoning powers 
but wanting in the faculty of an abstract memory, to 
demonstrate a proposition in Euclid, and it is easy to see 
how immeasurably the latter would have an advantage 
over the former. And equally clear is it in a case where 
nothing but dates and unassociated facts were to be com- 
mitted to memory, how far he would be outstripped by 
the other. But in general, where teachers resort to phy- 
sical punishments to enforce the getting of lessons, no 
attention is paid to this distinction ; the same lesson 
must be got by all the class, in the same time, and with 
the same degree of accuracy, and the same punishment 
awaits each defaulter whatever may be the cause of his 
failure. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 291 

Another thing is, the same motive presented to a 
class does not influence all alike, even though felt as 
strongly by one as another. The difference in point of 
labour necessary to get the lesson destroys the relative 
power of the motive. To a boy who can with small labour 
perform his task, the same motive is much stronger than 
to another who requires much exertion to do so. The 
latter has a counteracting motive in the difficulty of the 
task, and he weighs his own ease in refraining from it, 
against the inducement held out; and of course according 
to the difficulty of getting the task will the original 
motive lose its power. Nay, should he even throw the 
anticipated caning into the scale, the motive will often 
be found all too light. The talented boy has no con- 
sideration of this kind to overcome, for to him the lesson 
itself is perhaps a pleasure. 

Or the same thing may not even be a motive to all. 
Suppose the inducement simply be the approbation of 
the master, in those who have a large share of self- 
esteem, this will be powerful enough; while to others, 
not so constituted, it will prove no stimulus at all. The 
love of gaining a prize, which is a purely selfish feeling, 
will influence one boy, while, upon another, of perhaps 
better feelings, it will have no effect. One will be swayed 
by a sense of fear more than another possessed of firmer 
nerves; and a third will be stimulated by a mere sense 
of duty, more than another of less regulated habits. In 
short, there can hardly be a class of three boys, to each 
of whom the same thing would prove an equally powerful 
motive, or on whom the same motive would operate with 
equal power. But the rod' settles all these distinctions: 
it is the magician's wand, reducing all capacities to the 
.same dead level. Now the most careless observer must 
see that every boy differs from another in some depart- 
ed 



292 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING?. 

ment of his mental nature. It is, therefore, equally vara 
to imagine that one set of motives would equally influ- 
ence all, as that one suit of clothes would fit all. 

Perhaps nothing in the science of education more 
imperatively demands the teacher's attentive study than 
the principle of motives, and to make himself acquainted 
with which, a correct knowledge of the nature and con- 
stitution of the human mind is indispensable. 

Much of what is called bad conduct in children, both 
in school and in the family, is simply conduct trouble- 
some to those who have the charge of them. In the 
case first adduced of a boy's loud talking and restless- 
ness, the master s love of order and decorum was dis- 
turbed, and the serenity of his mind ruffled, and these 
feelings vented themselves against the aggressor. But no 
moral delinquency can be said properly to attach to such 
an error in the boy. It is much more a restraint upon 
the natural propensities of children to refrain from noise, 
than disagreeable to the master to listen to it. It is only 
a breach of those conventional rules he has established 
for his own convenience, and much at variance many of 
them are with the fresh and joyous outpourings of the 
youthful mind. Still, the order and decorum of a school 
must be maintained even at the expense of this exaction ; 
but as it is more in favour of the party exacting it, than 
any compliance with a principle of morality, the idea of 
enforcing silence and stillness under the penalty of the lash, 
is a tolerable stretch of absolutism. And if we analyse 
the feeling which suggests the infliction of corporal pain 
for the omission of some tedious and stupid task, without 
inquiring into the causes of the omission, it will be found 
to have its origin either in the ignorance, the indolence, 
or the cruelty of the inflicter. A master is gratified to 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 293 

kear a boy repeat his lessons accurately ; his own serenity 
of mind is thus promoted, and he praises the " good 
boy" for his diligence and assiduity. But the " bad boy," 
that is, he to whom Providence has denied the blessing 
of a retentive memory, or as acute powers of perception, 
of course blunders a lesson not adapted to his capacity, 
and disturbs his master's equanimity. Anger and resent- 
ment arise in the mind, that seek for gratification in the 
punishment of the author of them. Yet the innocent 
boy should by no means be called the author of such 
feelings. They were called into existence by the master's 
*<gnorance or indolence. He either could not detect, or 
did not take the pains to detect, the want of capacity 
and the absence of a sufficient motive to perform the task. 
He set the child to achieve an impossibility, and punished 
him for not doing so. 

How few persons who are in the habit of inflicting 
punishments of this kind, would, for a moment, entertain 
the idea, that it is a mere gratifying of revenge ! This 
may appear startling to those who have but little reflected 
upon the matter, and many may persuade themselves 
into a belief; that they are acting under an imperative 
sense of duty in doing so. But even the calmest and 
most deliberate chastisement of this sort is in its very 
nature a vindictive procedure, and there is no purely 
vindictive punishment but what is an unmitigated evil. 
" An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," belong to 
the abrogated code of the Mosaic economy, while the 
Christian dispensation teaches us, to "render not evil 
for evil." 

Why should an offence call for any outward punishment 
at all ? The foolish answer too often is, that a sense oi 
offended justice calls for it, or some such phrase. But 



294 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

few things have caused more misery to the human race" 
than a literal rendering of such phrases, which, for 
the most part, are simply personifications of abstract 
ideas, taken from the mythology of pagan nations. 
There is no such idea of "justice" between man and 
man in the Christian religion. " If thine enemy hunger, 
feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for, in so doing, 
thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." This is 
all the vengeance that man is allowed to indulge in 
under that dispensation, and the true philosophy of 
retaliation ; and it is a principle revealed for his guidance 
in the treatment of every offence. The true answer is, 
that punishments are awarded to offenders, either in 
ignorance of such a principle, or in distrust of its efficacy. 
It is either acting from an impulse of the feelings, 
without reasoning at all, or defending a line of action by 
arguments drawn from anything but an enlightened view 
of human nature. 

Let it be borne in mind, that every really immoral 
act has a punishment attached to itself; and to the en- 
lightened and educated conscience, either of a man or a 
boy, this ought to form, and will form, a sufficient safe- 
guard against the commission of crime. Such is one of 
the great principles upon which God himself conducts 
the moral affairs of his creatures. He is the superintend- 
ing and controlling agent over a system of government. 
There is no caprice in his administration of justice, no 
isolated cases, or contingencies, which such system does 
not comprehend, and has not made provision for. He 
has also afforded to his creatures the means of enlighten- 
ment as to a knowledge of that system, has shown 
them, by experience and revelation, the consequences of 
obedience and of disobedience to its requirements, so 
that they are without excuse if they incur the penalties 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 295 

annexed to a breach of his laws. Nor are even these 
penalties of a vindictive, but of a remedial character. 
They are always commensurate with the flagrancy of the 
crime, and of a nature adapted to counteract the pro-; 
pensity inciting to any particular offence. Dishonesty is 
not punished with the loss of health, nor immoderate 
eating with the forfeiture of a good name; yet each 
error has within itself the germ of its own peculiar 
punishment, a corrective property, which re-acts upon the 
offender for the beneficent purpose of warning him of 
his offence and effecting his reformation. 

Such a statement, it is hoped, will not be regarded 
as anything like a declension towards materialism or 
German metaphysics. That virtue is its own reward, and 
vice its own punishment, is a maxim common to both 
ancient and modern, Christian and heathen morality, and 
as old as the first dawning of intelligence upon earth. 
It was reserved for Christianity alone, however, to pro- 
mulgate the practical adoption of it, or the training to 
it as necessary to regulate conduct. What is meant to 
be impressed by the allusion is, that in the moral govern- 
ment of human affairs, by God, no extrinsic punishments 
occur, in ordinary cases — that, whenever such interposi- 
tions are resorted to, they are to be regarded in the light 
of miracles, or a counteraction and suspension of the 
ordinary laws of nature. Our inference is, that in the 
dealings of men towards one another, a similar course 
ought to be followed, but with this exception, that so 
far as extraordinary means, or what are usually called 
judgments, are concerned, the case has no parallel. Such 
is the prerogative of the Omniscient alone : "Vengeance 
belongeth unto me, saith the Lord.' 5 Unquestionably, 
therefore, these views Ought to form the basis of every 
penal code, whether for the regulation of prisons, peni- 



296 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

tentiaries, or schools. Punishments, if the name must 
be retained, should be remedies adapted to the disease. 

What, then, is the best mode of correcting a fault upon 
such principles ? And the answer is involved in another 
question — What is the best mode of curing a bodily 
ailment? The physician examines into the nature of 
the disease, and the causes from which it springs, and 
applies a remedy calculated to reach the source of the 
evil; and so must the moral physician. He must inquire 
into the nature and the causes of the offence, and apply 
a remedy adequate to reach and remove these. Many 
punishments there are, adequate enough to prevent the 
committing of certain acts, that are not only powerless 
in removing the tendency to such acts, but in reality 
promote and foster the tendency. Who can look upon 
the cruelties of slavery without seeing an illustration of 
this truth ? Slaves are flogged into obedience ; but if 
their disobedience is thus repressed, their hatred and 
animosity are increased, and that to such a degree as to 
induce them, on the first favourable opportunity,, to take 
away the lives of their tyrants ; and they are flogged to 
make them work, but their repugnance to their tasks 
being only thus increased, their idleness will increase in 
a similar ratio. And precisely the same feeling is esta- 
blished in a school where the mere terror of punishment 
is the guiding motive. It will make a child obey his 
master, but will never make an obedient child. It will 
also compel attention to his tasks, but will never inspire 
him with a love for knowledge. It ought rather to be 
said, perhaps, that it is the rod that is obeyed more than 
the master, and that, a] so, which obeys the master is 
more the rod than the child. It is matter acting upon 
matter, and dragging the unwilling mind captive, whereas 
without the willing mind there can be no proper obedience 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 297 

at all. To repress turbulence and noise by such means, 
is like drugging a patient in a fever with alcohol to throw 
him into a sleep, from which he would only awake ten 
times more feverish than before. 

Now it has been said that God does not leave his 
creatures in ignorance of his mode of governing them. 
He shows them their own advantage in following the 
right path, but if, through a perversity of will, they adopt 
a wrong one, the difficulties that attend their progress 
are so many appointed means to set them right. What 
then should moral education be but the carrying into 
effect of these broad and well-defined principles? In 
every individual, old and young, the Creator has im- 
planted what has been aptly styled his vicegerent — the 
conscience. This monitor is given to man to warn him 
of his errors, and prompt him to a performance of duty. 
Even with the light of nature, it shows him, to a certain 
extent, his duty and interest ; for by mere experience of 
the past, it points out his course for the future. It has, 
therefore, been implanted for a unity of purpose, but still 
it is simply an instrument intended for good, and by the 
perversion of its uses it may be rendered an instrument 
of incalculable evil. It is a lamp placed in a dark 
chamber, but it requires to be lighted up to be of any 
service there. But where is the light to be obtained ? 
and the answer is, from two sources, — the ever-burning 
lamp of nature, and the torch of revelation. Yet another 
question arises, Who are the parties qualified to apply 
this light? and the answer can only be, Those who 
themselves are living under the influence of an enlight- 
ened conscience. They must have light sufficient to 
guide their own conduct, and be able to govern their own 
passions and feelings, ere they attempt the governance 
of others. And this unquestionably is the point at 

03 



298 . PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

which moral training must commence. The trainer 
must have his own feelings under the control of reason. 
He must make these the reins of government, and hold 
them with a firm hand. He, also, it is, who must 
apply the light from which his pupils may catch the 
flame. And little or no application of it may he neces- 
sary. The lamp when Drought to the flame, will ignite 
as readily as when the latter is applied to it ; and the 
pupil, when "brought into contact with his master, will 
assimilate to him in character as readily "by a mere in- 
stinctive imitation, as through the medium of any pre- 
ceptive discipline exhibited by the latter. The great 
leading principle is, then, that physical punishments may 
be entirely superseded, not only in schools, but in families 
too, by the moral action of an enlightened and educated 
conscience. Enlightened and educated, however, it 
must be, and this requires the active interference of the 
educating party. 

By an enlightened conscientiousness, it is not meant 
that this faculty can of itself discover what is right and 
what is wrong, and discriminate between them. That is 
the province of reason and judgment; but when it has 
been settled in the mind what is duty, the cultivated 
conscience binds clown to a performance of it. What is 
it that makes one individual an honest man and another 
fraudulent ? simply because each thinks it his own ad- 
vantage to act as he does. The conscience of the latter 
is, as it were, encased in a panoply of ignorance, through 
which compunction for a dishonest act is not felt; that 
of the former, denuded of this covering, is exposed to the 
keen shafts of remorse. A dishonest man is morally 
uninformed of the nature and consequences of his crime, 
and commits it; an honest man sees the error, and avoids 
it. Whatever any one thinks wrong, he will feel pain 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 299 

at having committed ; or, -whatever he deems right, he will 
experience satisfaction in having performed. Hence the 
anomaly of such men as Rob Roy and Robin Hood re- 
morselessly plundering their neighbours under a sense of 
lawless justice. Such men would have scorned to do an act 
of injustice or oppression according to their views of right 
and wrong. Their conscientiousness was simply unenlight- 
ened. If the dishonest man were morally convinced that 
by following his fraudulent practices he would ultimately 
become a loser, he would abandon them — but he neither 
sees nor feels such a consequence. I speak not at present 
of another element in the case, namely, the force of 
habit, but of the original cause which induced the habit. 
Instead, therefore, of sending such a person to the tread- 
mill, or house of correction, on the commission of some 
flagrant act, so far as either his dishonest habits, or 
cause of such habits, are concerned, it is very evident 
nothing will be gained there. He may now feel, certainly, 
that he acted wrongly for himself in some particular 
instance, but he will ascribe his failure to some accident 
or mismanagement, and still be of opinion that success 
in his schemes would have been profitable. He does not 
see that dishonesty 'in its very nature is unprofitable ; 
and hence, on his liberation, being unconvinced of the 
" error of his ways," he would immediately resort to the 
same practices. But the loss would now fal] upon the 
community; he would bring into operation an additional 
degree of cautiousness, and become a more expert 
swindler. At all events, the treadmill would have no 
effect in removing the perversity of his habits. 

Now such is precisely the case in school. Flogging 
may repress, as I have said, any number of acts, but 
can never reach the cause of them. It must, therefore, 
be continually exerted upon the same individual, just a& 



300 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

we see the same offender brought up again and again for 
punishment at the Old Bailey. There being no reforma- 
tion of conduct, a boy will become more expert in de- 
ceiving his master, more hypocritical while doing that 
which is wrong, but he will not give up doing the wrong. 
And the reason of a boy's adhering to an immoral line of 
conduct, in defiance of punishment, is the very same 
that sways his senior in crime. He is not morally con- 
vinced that he is acting against his own interest in doing 
so. He never feels in his conscience the remorse of his 
error, because he does not see the error itself properly. 
Or if he should feel any compunction, it is entirely 
obliterated by the stronger feeling of resentment against 
the author of the punishment that immediately follows. 
So that even his own conscience has not an opportunity 
of performing its functions aright. The still small voice 
is lost amidst the roar of the coming storm that breaks 
upon his devoted head. This is the instrument, however, 
which the master ought to have wielded; for a gentle 
appeal to this monitor, made in the spirit of love, and 
accompanied with a clear statement of the fault, would 
melt into true penitence the hardest culprit. 

Let no one say that this is all too powerless a means 
of preventing offences. It is the means furnished by 
God himself, for the purpose ; and if cleared of the mists 
of ignorance, it will form an infallible specific for every 
offence. It must be remarked, however, that such offence 
must be against a moral law, strictly so called, for it 
cannot be imagined that much remorse will be felt for a 
breach of many of those mechanical formalities of school, 
that are absolutely in themselves unnatural and immoral 
restrictions. The laws of a school where moral training 
can be expected to flourish, must be in harmony with all 
the freshness and buoyancy of children. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 301 

In proceeding to correct a fault morally, therefore, the 
nature of the offence must be ascertained. It must be 
seen whether any immorality really attaches to it, or 
whether it has merely arisen from some unnatural posi- 
tion of the offender with regard to the regulations of the 
school. For example, what can be more intolerable to 
healthy children, and more at variance with , the laws of 
nature, than to compel them, under pain of abeating, to 
sit still in one position for an indefinite period ? And 
when to this may be added the dreariness and stupidity 
of committing some unintelligible memory lesson, the 
temptation to exchange a joke with a joyous companion, 
the physical depression of an ill- ventilated room, or a wet 
day, all these are circumstances, as the phrase goes, over 
which the poor child has no control. He cannot, there- 
fore, be sorry at obeying their impulse, simply because 
hefeek he has done no wrong, and however much he may 
be lectured about the matter, or even flogged, he will be 
as unconvinced as ever. Such being the case, his rest- 
lessness will recur as soon as the master's back is turned 
and similar temptations present themselves. 

Now it is evident that the substitute for the rod, in 
this case, would be simply to remove the cause of such 
restlessness, and its consequent mischief. Give the child 
the exercise he requires, and of the want of which, such 
restlessness is a sure sign. This would decidedly super- 
sede the necessity for either a scolding or a caning. A 
little physical amusement will do infinitely more good 
than any amount of physical punishment. Both the cause 
and the effect of the delinquency will be made to cease 
by the former method, whereas the latter will do neither. 
The teacher's own reason and experience must here be 
called into exercise. He must not act upon an impulse 
of his feelings. His self- training must lead him to act 



302 PHILOSOPHY OF TKAINING. 

in harmony with the symptoms manifested, not in oppo- 
sition to them; thus he will not only prevent an evil 
befalling the children, but confer upon them a most 
essential benefit. 

Or suppose it is the case of a memory lesson. This is 
a matter of pure labour, which ought, of course, to be 
apportioned to the capacity of the learner. The injustice 
of giving the same task to all, without regard to a dif- 
ference of mental constitution, has been already noticed. 
In a boy of weak memory, therefore, the substitute for the 
rod is simply to give a fair average amount of labour to 
be performed. And it is the master's duty to ascertain 
what this amount may be, by making himself acquainted 
with the mental character of his pupils. Nor only 
must a suitable task be given, but an adequate motive to 
stimulate to the performance of it. The committing to 
memory of anything being in itself purely a disagreeable 
work, when no other motive is given than a fear of 
punishment, the child has simply to choose between two 
evils. The motive in such a case may be called a pro- 
pulsive one, not impulsive. Tear pushes on the learner 
against his own will, thus increasing the irksome nature 
of his task. It is like rolling a stone up-hill, the moving 
power being from without, and requiring to be constantly 
exerted; whereas some internal impulse being given is 
like the same metaphor reversed, the stone rolling spon- 
taneously down an inclined plane. So that unless fear 
of the punishment be stronger than a dislike to getting 
the task, there is but little certainty that it will be got 
after all. For as I have said, it is simply a weighing 
of disadvantages to choose the less — fear against repug- 
nance ; and whichever of the two the boy feels to be the 
less disagreeable, that will become the ruling motive, and 
he will get his lesson, or leave it undone accordingly.. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. SOS 

Now it is readily granted that the lesson may be equally 
well got through fear, as from a higher motive ; hut the 
moral result in the one case is vastly different from the 
other. Where fear of this kind is the motive, there is in 
fact no moral guidance at all. It is a mere instinct or 
propensity common to all the inferior creatures, urging 
them to do things for the most part contrary to their 
inclinations ; whereas a moral motive implies the consent 
of the will to the performance of an action. The getting 
of a lesson by memory through fear of a punishment, is 
similar to swallowing disagreeable medicine from the 
same motive. The lesson itself may prove beneficial to 
the mind, and the medicine to the body, — equally so, 
perhaps, as if there had been no repugnance felt to them. 
But, by such a mode of getting lessons, a collateral result 
is produced upon the moral feelings, of a very prejudicial 
tendency, and a dislike to the person giving it, is an 
almost inevitable consequence. 

A different course should therefore be adopted in both 
cases. The advantages of the medicine ought to be 
shown, that the patient might see his interest in sub- 
mitting to take it; and the benefits of the lesson ought 
also to be explained, that the learner might perceive the 
reason of his getting it. Thus, disagreeable though the 
task be in itself, the willing mind and the interested 
motive would carry the learner triumphantly over the 
difficulty, and predispose him favourably towards his 
master, who gave him the opportunity of doing so. 
Whereas, if it is not got, and flogging ensues, his fear is 
only changed into revenge against his taskmaster; and, 
on the other hand, if a punishment does not follow the 
omission of it, even the master's physical control is at an 
end, for the chances of a similar escape in time to come 
will neutralise the most positive threatening^ of punish *• 



304 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

ment. In every aspect, therefore, it seems an act of 
pure cruelty to flog boys for failure in getting a memory 
task. Either the fear of punishment must be so strong 
as to bear down all repugnance, or the latter feeling 
diminished by giving a smaller task, or some higher 
moral inducement held out that would carry the willing 
mind along with it. The boy will thus have an impulse 
within himself, in the inspiring reflection that he is over- 
coming a difficulty to obtain a positive advantage — 
a buoyant spring of action which will keep moving in 
harmony all the mechanism both of his moral and mental 
nature. And having thus overcome one difficulty by his 
own self-sustaining energy, an accelerated motion would 
be gained, enabling him in future successfully to grapple 
with similar difficulties. Besides, the habit of obeying a 
right impulse, or simply the call of duty, beset by tempta- 
tion, would also be formed — the only habit deserving the 
name of virtuous. 

In this case, as in every other, the same feeling on the 
part of the inflicter of the punishment will be found at 
the root of the matter. A boy blunders in his lesson and 
raises a feeling of anger and resentment in the mind of 
the master, and these guide him in awarding the punish- 
ment. This cannot be denied. Let any one examine his 
own mind, and he will find it too true. A feeling of 
disappointment is Jirst experienced, which very soon irri- 
tates and raises up the worse feelings. How very few 
resort to such an alternative as flogging from a con- 
viction of its absolute necessity ! In nine cases out of 
ten it is impulsive and instantaneous — on the spot — 
at the moment. It was a true remark that the writer 
once heard a parent make, who had been beatiug his 
child for some offence, and remonstrated with by another 
for doing so in a passion — that if the child was not 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 305 

flogged when he was angry at the fault, he would never 
be flogged at all. Why? Because reason and affection 
would soon return to suggest a more rational and moral 
mode of correction. 

Let me not be mistaken, however, about an appeal to 
fear. Like every other feeling and faculty, it is implanted 
in our nature with a beneficent design. In children it is 
generally stronger than in grown persons. This is a wise 
provision, for while the other faculties are immature, a 
judicious exercise of this instinct prevents many evil con- 
sequences. But it is also exceedingly liable to abuse at 
that early period. If brought into an undue state of 
excitement, it relaxes the nervous system, and in certain 
constitutions may even lay the foundation of insanity. 
Every one knows the baneful influences upon children of 
sudden alarms, of narratives about supernatural appear- 
ances, and other modes of exciting fear. Being an in- 
stinct, one would say, it ought never to be appealed to 
physically at all, and much less ought it to be roused into 
terror by playing upon the untutored fancy. But teachers 
and parents both find it easily excited, and thus a con- 
venient instrument for their purposes. They do not 
consider that in proportion as it is stimulated to excess, 
it degrades the moral character, and establishes an in- 
fluence over the mind similar to that which guides many 
of the actions of the irrational tribes. If trained aright, 
however, and guided by a rational motive, such as the 
overcoming of a difficulty through fear of some moral or 
intellectual evil, it will become a feeling of circumspection, 
one of the most powerful auxiliaries in forming a virtuous 
habit. It thus lays hold of a virtuous motive, and will 
guide the conduct virtuously ; whereas, in the other case, 
it is a mere physical excitement ; strong it may be, but 
stupid. If morally trained itself, it will train morally; 



306 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING." 

if physically excited, it will excite physically. In the 
one case it will be a sure guide; in the other a blind 
guide. Thus it may be brought into legitimate action 
even in committing a lesson to memory. Only present a 
sufficiently powerful moral inducement to get a task, 
and the fear of failure will be abundantly strong to urge 
on the learner. Nor will the fear of displeasing a kind 
parent or master be an inconsiderable stimulus, and this 
exercise of the feeling is, perhaps, the most healthy of all: 
not even the rod can inflict so keen a wound upon a 
sensitive child as the pain caused by a breach of duty 
towards one whom he loves and respects. Fear, then, 
is a perfectly legitimate motive in school discipline, 
but it has also proper objects to be exercised upon, and a 
moral, not a physical, influence should be applied to it. 

How many, how very many, indeed, of the causes of 
those little faults at school, that are punishable by the rod, 
have their origin in the casti gator himself ! How often 
does one see, in the streets, the driver of a cab, by his 
own stupidity, getting entangled among a crowd of other 
vehicles. He loses temper at the delay and trouble, and 
wreaks his fury upon the unoffending animal in hard 
blows and cuts. If the animal had been properly guided 
beforehand, it would never have got into the difficulty. 
It was the driver's fault entirely, but for which the poor 
beast had to suffer. So is it at school, where blind force 
is resorted to in urging forwards boys in their studies. 
The reasons of failure are seldom taken into account in 
awarding the penalty, otherwise it would often be found 
as much the master's fault as the pupils. The former 
does not bestow sufficient pains in guiding his pupils into 
a right path, or does not show them the way properly out 
of a wrong one, but summarily flogs them through it. 
c Perhaps, in no instance is this better exemplified than 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 307 

in studying Latin under the still popular plan. In trans- 
lating a difficult passage, it is no exaggeration to say, 
that out of a class of six boys, on an average, four of 
thern never can make out the sense unassisted. But 
where is the assistance to come from ? Perhaps no help 
can be got at home, and the casual explanation of a 
comrade at school is not sufficient ; his own judgment is 
bewildered in attempting to solve the enigma, and he 
finds himself in a labyrinth of perplexity, from which 
there is no escape. But the lesson must be got under 
pain of a beating, and to this alternative he at last sub- 
mits in moody despair. And wise he is to do so, for few 
corporal punishments are worse than the mental torture 
arising from a vain attempt at unravelling an involved 
passage of Latin or Greek unassisted, and aggravated 
by the thought that an undeserved punishment is all that 
is likely to be the result. No one but those conversant 
in the customs of many grammar-schools, would believe 
the amount of misery thus inflicted upon innocent chil- 
dren. The prejudice against an interlinear translation, or 
any other improved mode of teaching Latin and Greek, 
prevents their being adopted in such places, and the 
almost unaided powers of children are set to cope with 
difficulties that masters themselves seldom voluntarily 
attempt. It is well known that the latter often resort to 
English translations to assist in reading an author. But 
then they do it hypocritically, decry the use of them, and 
prohibit their scholars from doing so. Professors in col- 
leges do the same, — at least the writer once remembers 
having a stolen glance at the manual of one of his pro- 
fessors, and found it interlined every word, and this, too, 
a gentleman who had gained the highest prizes both at 
Cambridge and Oxford. Why not offer then, to boys, 
the same assistance that is found so convenient to masters ; 



308 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

or, at all events, why flog children for not surmounting 
difficulties that masters often feel troublesome to them- 
selves ? The simple substitute for thousands upon 
thousands of bodily punishments, in such cases, for 
groans and tears and broken hearts without number, 
for depraved moral habits and stunted mental powers, 
would be the simplest of all possible expedients — an 
interlined copy of the Latin or Greek author read. 

It would be needless, and indeed impossible, to enume- 
rate all the cases that occur at school, punishable by the 
rod ; and I shall only, therefore, mention one or two 
other instances by; way of illustration of the whole erro- 
neous system. 

Perhaps the most besetting sin of school-boys, and the 
source of many other evils, is a general want of attention 
to their lessons. The causes of this are obvious at a 
glance — the lessons are not sufficiently attractive ; indeed, 
it is a truism to say so. That they. can be made entirely 
so, indeed, to every capacity^ and to the vastly diversified 
dispositions and minds of pupils, is, perhaps, impossible ; 
but to imagine that anything like uniformity of attention 
will be gained by physical compulsion, is extremely 
absurd. It- is a mistake similar to that which induced 
religious bigots of the dark. ages to institute the inquisi- 
tion, and the rack, to compel a uniformity of faith in 
matters of religion. Such a process might, of course, 
gain a hypocritical assent to any set of doctrines by the 
unthinking, but could only inspire disgust in those who 
reflected upon the matter ; and the terrors of the rod in 
school, may also compel a stupid and sullen stare at the 
book, or the instructor's face, but the willing mind, by 
such a method, will be far away. 

If a lesson is not attentively received, it is either not 
attractive in itself, not made so, or the bent of the boy's 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 309 

mind and disposition is at variance with that particular 
branch of study. The second of these is most frequently 
the case. What is here alluded to principally is, in what 
may he called explanatory or descriptive teaching. In 
speaking to children, even upon a subject naturally inter- 
esting to them, the prevailing error in untrained teachers 
is a want of simplification, or what has been aptly styled 
a "pulverising" process. They describe a thing to chil- 
dren as they would to grown people. Abstract ideas, a 
Latin style, and learned words are employed, and the 
pupils soon lose themselves in a vain attempt to make out 
what it can be all about. The announcement of the sub- 
ject perhaps may arrest their attention, and, expecting to 
be entertained, they prepare themselves to listen. By- 
and-by, however, some terms are introduced beyond their 
capacity, and their minds get bewildered. The picture 
they expected to see turns out a mere confusion of 
colours, on looking at which they can perceive no beauty, 
nothing attractive. But, in the whispered information of 
a companion regarding some incident naturally arising 
out of the lesson, a very striking and interesting picture 
is presented, and the listener's mind seizes upon it with 
avidity. It naturally calls up a kindred association in 
his own mind, which is also detailed sotto voce. Of 
course the master's elaborate description falls upon heed- 
less ears ; his vanity, perhaps, is mortified that all his 
fine speeches should go for nought, and his indignation 
aroused against the whispering and, to him, inattentive 
boys. This feeling calls forth a threat, or a scold, or as 
a more convenient and summary mode to those who have 
the rod constantly in hand, it may be a cut across the 
shoulders. Strange mode of recalling attention ! Yet it 
will do so, though in a very different way from that antici- 
pated. Attention will be fixed upon the master, in an 



310 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

instantaneous and concentrated feeling of resentment-. 
The boy was not to blame, however, — he was merely 
attracted by what he found attractive, and tired of listen- 
ing to what he could not understand. 

How imperative is it upon a teacher, even for his own 
comfort, to study the bias of the young mind, in giving 
such a lesson ! If a little liberty be given, the children them- 
selves will often point out the proper course of the lesson 
by their own suggestions and remarks. In the case men- 
tioned, the master could easily have perceived, that what 
the two boys had been talking about had reference to the 
subject. They should have been encouraged to express 
themselves audibly and without restraint. Perhaps in a 
lesson on the natural history of an animal, a boy will 
recall some incident or circumstance that came under his 
own notice connected with the animal's habits. This he 
should have an opportunity of relating aloud, instead of 
secretly to his companion. The incident should be taken 
up by the master, with whatever additions or improve- 
ments his own mind may suggest. The boy's attention 
would thus be taken captive as it were, drawn out, aud 
guided into that very channel best adapted for its develop- 
ment. And not only would this boy's mind and attention 
be secured from wandering, but it would prove the means 
of fixing the attention of all, for such, in all probability, 
would be the very course the lesson ought naturally to 
have taken. But, like an obstruction to the natural cur- 
rent of a river, turning it aside, and throwing its surplus 
waters over a fertile plain, to inundate it, and mar its fer- 
tility, the rod represses every such natural outgoing of 
the young mind, and throws it back upon itself, to stag- 
nate upon the feelings and demoralise them. 

Confessedly the most difficult cases to be dealt with, 
are those of a really immoral and wicked character, such 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 311 

as the breaking out of some bad passion and bad conduct. 
Still, keeping out of view those very depraved cases, in 
which every higher motive has been tried and found 
unavailing, and in which the excitement of fear, by some 
means extraneous to the offence, may be thought neces- 
sary, gentle means will still be found the best. No bad 
passions can be excited without a cause, hence there can 
be no bad cod duct either without some occasion for it. 
A boy strikes another a blow — but the latter has pro- 
voked it to a certainty ; scarcely any boy would wantonly 
do so. The cause, indeed, may not appear a sufficient 
one, either in the light of reason, or in the eyes of the 
master ; but still it was sufficient to the untrained boy. 
He must have felt himself affronted or aggrieved in some 
way or other, and the only remedy that suggested itself 
to his unenlightened mind, was a retaliation of this kind. 
In a flogging school, few cases would more certainly 
be punished by the rod, than this ; yet, perhaps, in no 
case would a beating have a more prejudicial tendency. 
The boy's wrath was the original cause of the strife, and 
to prevent a repetition of the offence, it should of course 
have been turned away. But, by flogging, his wrath, if 
diverted from his opponent for a time, is doubly excited 
against his master ; and being unconvinced of his offence 
against the boy, he would do the same thing again, on 
the recurrence of a similar temptation. Not, however, in 
the presence of the master, being afraid of him. His 
cautiousness would now be excited, and he would take 
measures to gratify his revenge more effectually, unseen, 
and unknown. This revenge would, also, be increased 
from a recollection of the master's beating; and the 
unfortunate object on whom it might again fall, would 
doubly suffer. It is obvious that the resentful feeling is 
here fostered and perpetuated by the master's treatment. 



312 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

The act of fighting and striking other boys in school in 
future, might he prevented, hut there would he an under- 
current of secret revenge opened up instead, in the hoy's 
bosom, prompting him, on receiving an imaginary injury 
in future, to avenge it secretly, and in a cowardly and 
more cruel manner. And by the sight of the master's 
punishing other boys, this feeling would even be increased 
in no ordinary degree. In few cases is the principle of 
imitation more powerful than in this, where it is a mere 
propensity of the physical nature that is excited. It is, 
therefore, one of the strongest of all reasons, why physical 
punishments should be left off altogether, that such con- 
duct in a master towards his pupils, creates the very same 
conduct in the latter towards one another. Frequently to 
scold a boy will make him a scold towards others, and to 
flog him, especially for an act of fighting, will only in- 
crease his propensity into a habit. It may also be added, 
that a habit of reproaching a boy for bad actions, will 
only make him in reality habitually bad. It would 
almost seem as if these modes of correction actually 
impressed a character upon the object of them, for the 
converse is no less true. Praise a child for being good, 
and he will become so. Speak to him kindly, and 
gently, and confidentially, and he will become kind and 
gentle, and worthy of all confidence. In a word, be 
to him what you would wish him to be to others, and 
he will become so. What, after all, is a moral pre- 
cept but a picture of some part of conduct ? and as no 
picture can be equal to the thing pictured, so no precept 
can be equal to an exhibition of the conduct itself. In 
preceptive morality, conduct is exhibited as through a 
glass darkly ; in practical morality it is seen face to face. 
Moral training, in theory at least, excludes all motives 
whatever arising from rewards and punishments — that is, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 313 

affecting one set of faculties agreeably or disagreeably, 
that others may be kept rigbt. Each faculty must be 
trained by exercising itself. Punishment is a corrective 
process — training a directive; the former may be a 
necessary evil, but the latter is a positive good. 

In treating such a case as the one mentioned, the cause 
of the blow of course ought first to be examined into. 
Let a scrutiny be made into all the circumstances attend- 
ing the quarrel. It may have been a reproachful word in 
the boy struck, and even this may have been called forth by 
the striker himself in some antecedent impulse. It is often, 
in fact, deeply interesting to trace such a quarrel to its 
origin, and requires not a little judgment to give a proper 
decision in the matter. The circumstance producing the 
original feeling, however, must first be taken into account, 
and the boy made to see that after all, instead of being the 
aggrieved party, it was he himself perhaps who first set the 
strife in motion. Illustrate the point by some apposite 
analogy, such, as, The beginning of strife is as when one 
letteth out water; or, the setting in motion of a body 
down an inclined plane, and thus show how the originator 
of any cause is responsible for its effects. In short, 
mentally convince the boy of his error by "soft words," 
until his wrath be " turned away." Let him kindly see 
his error, and he must be a depraved boy indeed if he 
does not feel that he has done wrong ; let this feeling 
be strengthened and become predominant, and it will be 
found perfectly adequate to prevent him from committing 
a similar offence again, or at all events, the repetition of 
it will be followed by an increased feeling of compunc- 
tion. The conscience, then, not the whip, must be made 
the " scourge," and to this end it must be prepared by 
the moral disciplinarian. Its " stings and arrows" must 
be sharpened at the whetstone of the understanding, to 



314 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

render it the most powerful of all stimulants to good 
conduct. Every 'one knows that wrath is simply the 
feelings getting the better of the judgment ; the remedy 
is, therefore, equally simple, — let the judgment get the 
better of the feelings. The mistaken mode of doing so, 
however, is by exasperating the feelings without improving 
the judgment, whereas the judgment ought to be 
strengthened to such a degree as to obtain a permanent 
mastery over the unimpaired feelings. 

The last case I shall mention is that of lying and 
prevarication. It is curious to remark the different 
tendencies to this vice, even in children brought up 
under the same course of training, and in every respect 
subjected to the same temptations. Than a deduction of 
this sort, however, nothing more strikingly shows how 
much the faculties depend upon some physical organisa- 
tion for their manifestation and enlargement, and how 
much the moral and intellectual nature of man is, after 
all, indebted for its greatness and its weakness, its virtues 
and its vices, to the mere corporeal elements that sustain 
it. These faculties are among themselves subject to a 
perturbing influence similar to that exerted by the 
planetary bodies on one another ; for no more certainly 
will the planet Venus in her approach to the Earth draw 
the latter aside from her orbit, than will the existence of 
one faculty in over- abundant strength and excitement, 
cause a weaker faculty to swerve from the line of recti- 
tude. The phrase, " a well-balanced mind," is therefore 
not so figurative as many would imagine, for it is only 
such an equipoise of the faculties that can ensure a con- 
tinuation of virtuous conduct. And in training, it is by 
the depression of one, and the drawing out of another, 
that such a balance can be effected, at least so far as the 
physical basis of these faculties will permit. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 315 

A disposition to prevaricate or falsify, can only be 
excited in any one for the sake of gaining some personal 
advantage, for gratifying some feeling, or preventing 
some injury. A person addicted to this vice is simply 
uninformed, and morally unconvinced as to the ultimate 
evil consequences of his habit. It is a mental darkness 
that ought to be enlightened, a moral weakness that ought 
to be strengthened. It is one strong feeling gaining the 
ascendency, and leading a weaker one captive : the former 
should, therefore, be repressed ; the latter educated. A 
timid boy commits a fault, for which he fears a punish- 
ment. This latter feeling being stronger than his con- 
scientiousness, or love of truth, — which, it must be 
confessed, is an artificial and highly refined virtue, at 
least it often requires a considerable power of abstraction 
to see the necessity of adhering to it, and of moral firm- 
ness to do so,* — leads captive his judgment, or rather 
makes it instrumental in fabricating a means of defence 
against the impending punishment. The mind is also, 

* It is somewhat difficult to admit Dr. Keid's theory of an 
" innate propensity to truth." G ceteris paribus, a child may incline 
to relate a simple fact truly, apart from any temptation to the 
contrary, but to speak truth in opposition to falsehood, argues a 
mental process. If a child believe that a greater advantage would 
be gained by a concealment of this fact, I think be would 
naturally conceal it. This would, therefore, be the first moral 
impulse arising out of a mental operation, and it requires another 
deduction to see what is duty in the matter, while to act upon this 
conviction in the face of a present disadvantage, argues a habit 
based upon reason. If there were no vice in the world, neither 
would there be any virtue; and if there were no falsehood, there 
would be no moral truth. Each one may be called the negative 
of the other ; but as an adherence to the latter proves a higher 
point of civilization in the universal man, so does it a superiority 
of intelligence in the individual. 

P2 



316 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

in this instance, the slave of an animal instinct ; and, in 
proportion to the severity of the expected punishment 
and the strength of his fear, will he the certainty that 
such a hoy will tell a falsehood to protect himself. It is 
a mere matter of self-defence ; a questionable shield no 
doubt, but the only one his fear can furnish him on the 
occasion. But why need this shield at all, and this pro- 
tection ? If there were no severe punishment, there 
would be no necessity for resorting to such a defence. 
It is the punishment, therefore, that causes the artifice; at 
least, it is the cause of exciting the boy's fear, and his 
fear suggests the falsehood. Take away the cause, and 
the effect will cease. Instead of frightening children of a 
timid disposition from doing that which is wrong, it is 
much better on most occasions that they actually be 
suffered to do the wrong, for the terror of a beating will 
assuredly lead them to adopt this vice, of almost all 
others, the most to be shunned. The boy's fear will not 
allow him to see any greater evil than the punishment, 
and thus it has upon him a blinding influence to the con- 
sequences of his error. He is stunned, as it were, into a 
sort of moral derangement, and momentary forgetfulness 
of himself, by the anticipated chastisement. Who does 
not see, then, that severe measures of correcting faults, 
especially in timid children, will only strengthen and 
perpetuate an early developed tendency to falsehood ? 
Nay, they will call forth the tendency where it never 
before existed. Oppression, it is said, will make a wise 
man mad ; and it will also make a truth-loving child a 
confirmed deceiver. 

The remedy, or at least the first step in the remedy, is 
simply, as in all other cases mentioned, to remove the 
cause or the temptation. If a merely timid boy has com- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 317 

mitted a fault, and has no fear of a punishment for it, he 
will not thus, without any motive, conceal his offence by 
a falsehood. Hence there will be no lie, because there 
was no temptation. And the chances are also in favour 
even of having the original offence rectified, for the false- 
hood may be successful in concealing it. But, whether 
or not, it must have been a serious offence indeed, to call 
for such severity as would thus jeopardise the offender's 
character for truth. And again, if detected and flogged, 
what, after all, is the consequence ? the propensity is not 
thus repressed, but around the same propensity is now 
thrown an additional degree of cautiousness. The pain 
felt on one occasion will not so much deter from the 
re- commission, as prompt to the better concealment of an 
offence, and the result will only be, in future, a more 
elaborated falsehood. 

But in attempting to rectify the habit of prevaricating 
and falsehood, the feeling of fear must by no means be 
kept out of view. It only requires, indeed, to be enlight- 
ened, to prove a very powerful auxiliary in eradicating 
the habit. In the absence of any particular act, a foun- 
dation must be laid by means of reason and argument. 
The vice must be shown in action, pictured out in some 
familiar illustration, and the fatal consequences of the 
habit shown. Excite a fear of these consequences, and 
by a natural gradation, of their cause. Turn thus the 
feeling into a right channel, so far as earthly means go. 
But the higher sanctions of religion must also be resorted 
to. Yet even here most persons certainly commit a great 
mistake. They transfer their own mode of dealing with 
offenders to religion, and, fancying how they should feel 
and act in certain cases, ascribe such modes to the Deity. 
God is, therefore, represented to children as being 



318 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

" angry" with those who tell lies. Now this is true : 
he is said to be angry with the wicked every day ; but it 
is only true metaphorically. One cannot imagine anger 
literally, to be a feeling in the Divine mind, otherwise it 
must also be admitted, that its serenity can be ruffled, and 
a feeling of unhappiness experienced, which is impossible. 
Children, however, have no other idea of anger, than 
what they see exhibited on the countenance and in the 
conduct of a furious and passionate man, while such an 
ebullition in a human being, is mere animal revenge, and 
it is this idea they ascribe to God. But such violent 
displays in a fellow- creature only call forth their own 
resentment and obstinacy; and how can they feel dif- 
ferently, when God is exhibited in such a character ? 
They feel, of course, afraid for so terrible a Being, but it 
is not a moral fear. It is the terror of a slave, not filial 
remorse. It is true, indeed, that many of the attributes 
of God's character are necessarily described in language 
primarily descriptive of the frail passions of humanity. 
But, as it is only these passions in their sinful excess 
that are palpable to the understandings of children, too 
great caution cannot be taken in conveying an idea of the 
character of God from such imperfect data. The wounded 
feelings of a kind and sorrowing parent, however, are 
certainly the true figure here, and yet only a figure, for 
regret, no more than anger, can be a feeling in a perfectly 
happy mind. A representation of anger and resentment 
against any one, if it does not rouse within him similar 
feelings, will sink him into a state of moody sullenness, 
while an exhibition of sorrow and regret cannot fail to 
inspire a remorseful impression; and this will be in- 
creased when the offender sees that such feelings have 
been called forth in another, at something he has done, 
only prejudicial to himself, or at least in which he would 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 319 

be the greatest sufferer. Let the hoy's fear, then, he 
turned in this direction, and it will he legitimately 
exercised. 

Before this can he done, however, it is evident that an 
enlightening process must have been undergone. As all 
falsehood, like every other vice, is purely prejudicial to 
the individual practising it, he only requires to know and 
to feel that it is so, to endeavour to avoid it. I speak 
not at present of the constraining influence of hahit in 
such cases, where the will and the conduct are so often 
in direct opposition to one another, hut of the original 
motives which induce the hahit, which are all evidently 
traceable to some merely intellectual emotions. 

I would say, then, morally enlighten a child of his duty 
and interest, his own duty, and his own interest in refrain- 
ing from falsehood. Let him feel, by all the higher 
sentiments of his nature, the prospective misery of an 
opposite course ; remove every needless temptation out 
of his way, and cause of exciting fear and alarm for 
punishment on the committing of an offence. Draw out 
his love and confidence instead, and the basis of a truth- 
ful character will thus be laid. "Perfect love casteth 
out fear, and there is no fear in love." If a child love 
his master or parent and have confidence in him, he 
will have no fear of telling him his faults. Thus he will 
never have this temptation to falsify placed in his way ; 
but if he entertain a mere physical terror or awe of his 
superior, even though he should not beat him, a constant 
temptation to prevaricate, on the committing of every 
offence, will be in his way. His inordinate fear must, 
therefore, be repressed, or cast out by love, which is the 
real parent feeling, not only of truth, indeed, but of every 
other virtue that adorns humanity. 

Before concluding these remarks, a question naturally 



320 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

arises regarding the scriptural warrant for resorting to 
physical punishment in the training of children. In 
several parts of the Old Testament the custom is alluded 
to, and the use of the rod hy parents unquestionably has 
the sanction of some of the inspired writers. It would 
seem, however, that in this case, as in many others 
where a too strict adherence is kept to the mere letter of 
Scripture, its spirit and design are overlooked. And, in 
passing, it may be noticed, that if such passages are to 
he taken quite literally and in an unlimited sense, 
nothing else but a rod ought ever to be used in correc- 
tion, and no one but a parent ought ever to wield it. 
Hence the authority assumed by schoolmasters for this 
purpose, and the use of any other instrument of pain, 
must be altogether apocryphal. But, such passages cer- 
tainly admit of a much more liberal interpretation. 

Nothing is more evident, than that most of the rigor- 
ous injunctions of the Old Testament, where they were 
not entirely abolished, were vastly softened down in the 
new dispensation; and in the mild precepts of Christ 
and his apostles, scarcely anything approaching to seve 
rity in morals is observable. In the rude ages before 
Christ, severe punishments of all kinds seemed in har- 
mony with the stern genius of the Jewish people. Their 
unmoralised natures, so to speak, were not perhaps amen- 
able to a milder treatment. In the absence of this moral 
sensibility in a people, it may be necessary that some 
physical and coercive means should be employed. Such 
individuals can be made to feel ouly where they are 
sensible, and that is in their physical nature. Its wants 
and necessities may therefore be turned to account in 
legislating for a rude community. But when the "fallow 
ground" of society has been broken up, and the fruits of 
morality and virtue become apparent — when the intellect 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 321 

and feelings have assumed a predominancy, higher and 
more powerful incentives to good conduct are then de- 
veloped. Different modes of punishment, it is granted, 
may therefore be necessary in different stages of civilisa- 
tion, even as a different treatment is necessary to the 
different characters of children. Hence the apparent 
discrepancy, in many places, between the Old Testament 
and the New. The end to be gained is uniformly the 
same, but the means employed vary according to circum- 
stances. The law was said to be a "schoolmaster" to 
bring us unto Christ; but on his appearing, a new school 
of morality was organised. The law was a physical instru- 
ment, rough-hewing society, as it were, and preparing it for 
receiving the moral and spiritual impress of the Gospel. 
The latter is a spiritual power, stamping a character 
upon society through its feelings and affections. Now, 
to fall back upon the iron sway of the ceremonial law, 
and to justify a similar treatment of the children of our 
day to what may have been necessary in those rude ages, 
since we know, too, that most of those ordinances were 
merely temporary and " ordained to pass away," is taking 
anything but a liberal view of Scripture. 

And it is doubtless true, that even in the New Testa- 
ment allusion is sometimes made to fathers "correcting" 
and ■• chastising " their children ; but it will be found 
that such passages are not alluded to by way of examples 
to be imitated, but simply as referring to an existing 
practice, for an illustration of some other doctrine. It 
is needless, I think, to cite any particular passage to 
prove this hypothesis. The whole tenor of the New 
Testament is in favour of it. The morality of the Gospel 
rests entirely upon the power of gentleness, kindness, 
meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness, non-resistance to 
injuries, persuasiveness, love, moral conviction. It dis- 

p 3 



322 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

cards everything like a retaliation by physical pain. If 
thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he smite thee on the 
one cheek, turn to him the other also : endure reviling, 
suffer wrong, nay, do good in return, for by so doing 
thou shalt heap coals of fire upon the head of the ag- 
gressor. That is, his own conscience will in time re- 
prove him, and lead him to repair the wrong, — which, 
evidently, is the only rod sanctioned by Christian 
morality. 

But much of this reasoning may be admitted ; and it 
may be replied, that it only refers to the government of 
adults, and that a different treatment is necessary in the 
management of children. Not so. It is indeed a great 
mistake to treat them differently. The feelings and 
affections of children are often stronger than those of 
their seniors, and they are infinitely more pliant. The 
means of moral training are, therefore more available in 
the case of the former than in that of the latter. The 
dews and rains of heaven are more necessary in nourishing 
the tender sapling than the hardy plant. The same kind 
of food is given to old and young, and the same remedy 
for a bodily disease applied to all; and a similar remedy 
in morals will be found alike efficacious, only varying in 
degree according to circumstances. 

If, then, an appeal is made to Scripture at all in 
adjudicating the question, it ought certainly to be to the 
New Testament ; and there, every precept of Christ, 
and every act of his life, will be found directly opposed 
to the conclusion, that severity in punishing even the 
most depraved offenders is beneficial. And much were it 
to be wished that a kindred spirit should influence our 
modern senators and judges, and that they should prefer 
a liberal interpretation of the New Testament as a stand- 
ard in their decisions and enactments, to a literal and 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 323 

restricted reading of certain isolated passages of the Old. 
Such a disposition would then evince no inconsiderable 
approach to the happy age so glowingly depicted by the 
Roman bard — 

quae vindice nullo, 



Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colebat, 
Poena metusque aberant, nee verba minacia fixo, 
iEre legebantur ; nee supplex turba timebat 
Judicis ora sui : sed erant sine vindice tuti. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

I now come to the last division of these remarks, 
namely, the utility or inutility of a course of classical 
instruction as a regular branch of school study. 
Of late years, much discussion has arisen on this point, 
and, of course, not a little keen feeling been mani- 
fested on both sides. Like almost every other question 
that has antiquity on its side, it has been regarded in 
two extreme points of view ; one party asserting 
its entire inutility and absurdity, and the consequent 
necessity that it should be altogether omitted in a course 
of school study, and another insisting upon its being 
preserved intact, with all its sins upon its head. Per- 
haps the error of the one party is in drawing a conclusion 
unfavourable to the thing itself, from the obviously defi- 
cient modes in which it has hitherto been taught ; while 
the other, not unaware of these antiquated modes and 
their inconvenience, still value the advantages of a clas- 
sical education too highly to think of disturbing them. 
In this, as in most other questions where extreme and 
conflicting opinions prevail, a middle course seems to be 
that which comes nearest the standard of truth. 

In estimating the value of any particular branch of 
study, one prominent principle ought ever to be borne in 
mind, namely, the end or object of all education ; that it 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 325 

is simply the formation of correct tastes and habits of 
mind and body. Whatever, therefore, has a tendency to 
refine and cultivate these habitudes, even apart from its 
own intrinsic worth, is admissible into a routine of study, 
and valuable in proportion to its instrumental efficacy. 
School studies of any kind, are, or at least ought to be, 
so many moral and mental exercises, modes of training 
and developing those powers and faculties, which ulti- 
mately must be left to their own growth, and to bring 
forth their own fruit. Now, as these tastes and habits 
are of different kinds, according to the different faculties 
of our nature, so also must the means employed in the 
development of them be various. Every one acknow- 
ledges, for instance, the efficacy of mathematics and 
arithmetic in eliciting the reasoning faculties and fixing 
attention; and were there nothing of instruction con- 
veyed to the mind from a study of these branches, they 
would still be valuable on this account alone. At the 
hazard of being thought to place too much reliance upon 
the many speculations of phrenology, it has been already 
stated that the Creator has endowed man with distinct 
organs for each faculty of the mind, and it may be added 
that the organ of language, in particular, is very clearly 
defined. The development of this faculty depends 
upon its being exercised upon those artificial signs 
and symbols called words and letters. It is not a 
faculty peculiar to man, but doubtless one of the 
principal auxiliaries, by means of which, and aided by 
these arbitrary symbols, he gains so great a supe- 
riority over the lower creation, and the illiterate and 
uncultivated among his own species. Its province is in 
mere names, not things ; philological investigations into 
the origin and analogy of terms, independently of their 
meaning. The learning of languages is, therefore, much 



326 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

of a mechanical process. But, inasmuch as an artisan 
will operate more efficiently, and furnish a more beautiful 
specimen of his art, by having superior and well-appointed 
instruments, so will the literary man, in all his scientific 
pursuits, have this mechanical advantage over his less 
learned competitor. And the mere fact of the existence 
of such a faculty is of itself a sufficient reason why it 
ought sedulously to he cultivated. 

Now, that there are other means of educing this power 
of the mind than by an initiation into the literature of 
ancient Greece and Eome, is obvious enough, but 
I question much whether in any other language, an- 
cient or modern, there are equal facilities afforded for a 
similar process of mental training. In the complexities 
of their structure, and the profound philosophical prin- 
ciples upon which their syntax and etymology are 
based, there is an apparatus at hand of the most ex- 
quisite kind for cultivating and refining this talent. And 
this quality, it must ever be contended, is that which 
gives a chief value to any branch, namely, its adaptation 
as an instrument in training, independently of the com- 
munication of a single idea. By any process, and by all 
fair means, let a boy's mind once be taught to think and 
investigate for itself, and the work of education has taken 
a right direction. 

Besides, that the study of mere literature has a highly 
refining and polishing effect upon the mind, is matter of 
every day's observation. Literary habits, and elegance 
of deportment and manners, may indeed not always be 
conjoined, though there is nothing incongruous in them ; 
but the higher and purer graces of mental embellishment, 
and even moral excellence, are, in a majority of cases, 
the natural result of the former. Nor can any one doubt, 
that the vast care and attention which the ancient Greeks 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 327 

and Eomans bestowed upon their beautiful languages, 
bad a reflex influence in softening and refining their own 
characters, and must have formed a principal antidote 
against the barbarizing effects of their otherwise warlike 
habits: so that, as a mere accomplishment in our own 
day, they ought still to be entitled to a place in a curri- 
culum of liberal education. And when we consider the 
almost universal diffusion of Greek and Latin through all 
other European tongues, thus forming a substratum to 
the literature of the whole civilized world, it is obvious 
that a vast facility in mastering any other language must 
be acquired from a knowledge of the former. They have 
thus been aptly styled the key of all modern literature ; 
and while they hold so prominent a place in the com- 
position of our own English tongue in particular, the 
etymology of which can never be studied without an 
acquaintance with them, their claims to be regarded 
favourably become still more powerful. 

But it is not only as a collection of words and roots 
that they act as a key to the English; there is a Latinity 
of style and thought pervading our tongue, the beauties 
of which can only be detected and appreciated by the 
classic reader, and which, perhaps, the classical writer 
alone can throw into his own compositions. An indivi- 
dual who is in the habit of mixing in good society, 
though he may not have had a classical education, may 
not, perhaps, in speaking, commit any solecism against 
the rules that govern polite conversation; but let him 
commit his thoughts to paper, at least to any extent, and 
the chances are great indeed, that he will transgress in 
the use of many words and phrases. It would be equally 
wrong to assert, however, that the converse is always 
true, for many a profound classical student writes bad 
enough English: but this is just the result of a too 



328 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING 

exclusive attention to one thing. English must be 
studied in order to acquire a knowledge of itself, as well 
as the Latin or Greek. 

And were there no greater inducement to a study of 
these languages, than the mere pleasure of being able 
to peruse in the original, the immortal works of Homer, 
Virgil, Horace, and other ancient authors, even this 
of itself is no mean incentive. No translation what- 
ever can convey to the mind the thoughts conceived 
by these masters in the art, with such a thrill of emotion 
and delight as the original form in which they were first 
given to the world. The spirit refuses to animate another 
frame, and must be evoked only through this instru- 
mentality. And one would imagine there are few per- 
sons of literary taste, who do not reckon this pleasure 
alone much of a recompense for all their previous 
preparatory course, painful as that process too often is. 
But as I intend to show, which indeed is the object 
of these remarks, that this pleasure and these advantages 
may all be acquired by a course of study in itself agree- 
able, and by devoting not one- sixth part of the time 
formerly deemed necessary for that purpose. 

But while thus pleading for the necessity of a course 
of classical instruction, it cannot be denied that after all, 
it is only a special branch of schooling. To those whose 
future pursuits will most likely be of a literary or 
scientific nature, it is still indispensable, and, therefore, 
equally necessary to those whose fortune it is to be born 
to an independent station. And it is here where the 
chief error lies. Instead of being considered as forming 
only a special branch in a routine of study, it was 
formerly regarded as the great and staple business of 
education. 

On the revival of letters throughout Europe, all the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 829 

sciences and arts were in a manner locked up within 
these dead languages, and it was only through a know- 
ledge of them that a way was opened up to the former. 
Hence they were assiduously cultivated, and became the 
only medium of communication among the learned, by 
whom they were not only written but spoken to a very 
considerable extent. Besides, the charm which attached 
to the mere study of them, itself added not a little to 
their being so generally cultivated. But a brighter day 
arose than the dim light which mere literature shed upon 
the world ; and when the true method of investigating 
the operations and the laws of nature was discovered, in 
the application of inductive philosophy to the sciences, 
and the " triumphs" of art succeeded to these discoveries, 
because based upon them, a new and vast field of instruc- 
tion opened up to the student. The study of letters 
properly became a mere unit in the aggregate of these 
branches ; but so much are mankind the slaves of custom, 
and the devotees of antiquity, that while the inculcating 
of scientific knowledge — certainly a matter of much 
greater moment — was left to be acquired accidentally, 
the richest endowments were, and are still, lavished upon 
those institutions that communicate a mere knowledge 
of letters. These places also, being the resort of the 
rich and fashionable, give a tone to all other minor 
schools throughout the country that aim at embracing 
the younger members of the same classes of society ; 
and as the terms of their endowment for the most part 
enjoin, that not only shall a prominence be given to 
classical instruction, but that the mode of conducting 
it shall be according to certain ancient forms, the evil 
has taken deep root, and its ramifications are very widely 
spread. 

The present mode of teaching Latin, which may be 



330 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

taken as illustrative of the rest, since the same error 
in principle pervades the teaching of all languages, is 
to put into the hands of a boy an Eton Grammar, or a 
primer compiled upon the same plan, and cause him 
to wade through the tedious abstractions of its weary 
pages. To say these can be explained and made in- 
telligible to him at this stage, is simply to assert an im- 
possibility; they are therefore to be got by heart. As an 
extenuation of this enormity, it is argued, that its 
collateral advantages are an improvement, and strength- 
ening of the memory. Any one, however, at all con- 
versant in mental science knows, that no similar process 
of cramming the memory with unexplained facts, upon 
which the principle of association cannot operate, bene- 
fits, but oppresses and injures that faculty. But even to 
this memory system itself, many unnecessary difficulties 
are opposed. Most editions of the Eton Grammar are 
wholly in Latin, which obviously cuts off the learner 
from having the aid of his own judgment in preserving a 
recollection of its rules; for one half of what he thus gets 
by heart he cannot understand. It is worth while for 
any one just to try the experiment upon himself. Let 
him take into his hand a book of some hundred and thirty 
pages, written in a language of which he knows not a 
single word, and endeavour to convince himself that it is 
necessary to commit to memory the entire of its unin- 
telligible text before he can derive some given benefit, 
and the advantage must be great indeed that would 
induce him to undertake the task. Happy it is for 
children, therefore, that a kind Providence denies them 
any great degree of prevoyance — for such is undoubtedly 
the initiatory step in their classical career. Many of 
these grammars are indeed in English, as far as pos- 
sible, but, like all other grammars, they are necessarily 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 331 

a mere string of abstractions and generalizations, of which 
the mind of a child can take no possible hold. 

At the time this grammar was introduced into schools, 
which was in the reign of Henry VIII., a very different 
mode of studying the Latin language was then pursued. 
At all the monastic institutions of the country, and by the 
learned men of that age, Latin was universally spoken. The 
novitiates and students at these places, therefore, acquired 
the foundation of their knowledge of Latin orally from 
their preceptors and superiors. Practice thus naturally 
preceded theory. A basis of words and sentences was 
laid, and after the student had acquired a colloquial 
acquaintance with it, he was introduced to the grammar 
as a means of polishing and completing his studies. It 
was a similar course to what is now pursued in a study 
of English. Grammar is not given to a child learning 
to read English, but after he has attained a very consider- 
able knowledge of it, he is made acquainted with its 
structure and higher graces. And in passing, it may be 
remarked, that more English grammar can be taught 
incidentally, and by mere conversation, than by all the 
rules that ever were elaborated for that purpose. But 
with regard to this Latin grammar, it was at least as 
well adapted to the study of Latin as taught in the days 
of Henry VIII., as any modern English grammar is 
to complete a course of English studies in the present 
day. Such a process might be symbolised by a scaffold- 
ing erected to finish and ornament the extreme parts of 
a building, whose services can of course only be required 
when the building has attained some height. But the 
converse is now the case ; for instead of laying a 
foundation and proceeding with the edifice, thus forming 
a natural scaffolding of itself, a huge apparatus is thrown 
around the site of the building before a single stone is 



332 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

laid ; and it is not difficult to see, that instead of such 
an arrangement facilitating the progress of the work, it 
can only throw needless impediments in the way. Or it 
is taking the sculptor's finer instrument by which he 
polishes and adds the higher graces to the statue, and 
applying it to the rough hewing of the shapeless mass. 

Subsequently I shall have occasion to show, that 
the mode of teaching languages about to be advo- 
cated, so far from being a modern improvement in edu- 
cation, is as ancient as the first cultivation of letters 
in this country. Before proceeding to do so, however, 
it may be well to advert to the rationale of the thing 
itself. 

What, then, is grammar ? It is a collocation of laws 
generalised and gleaned from the usages of the best 
writers and speakers. It is a standard by which 
to compare different modes of speaking and writing ; 
and it is therefore obvious, that before its services can 
be required, a considerable degree of practice, both in 
writing and speaking, must have been attained, because 
the act of comparing these different modes is in itself a 
process of generalisation, an abstractive exercise of the 
mind, taking cognisance of previously accumulated data, 
and these data consist of different kinds of words and 
sentences. The province of grammar, therefore, is 
correction, and in order to its proper application, it must 
of course have something to correct. It is not a sug- 
gestive art, prompting the proper words and phrases, but 
when these are suggested, it is a rule by which their 
correctness is tested. The obvious illustration that 
occurs here, is the mode by which infants acquire a 
knowledge of language, namely, by imitating those who 
have the earliest care over them. No rules can be avail- 
able in their case to guide them, either to a correct pro- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 333 

nunciation or an elegant phraseology. These must 
depend upon the models after which they copy, and these 
models are the living voice and diction of their parents 
or guardians ; and let it be supposed that the pronun- 
ciation and language of their parents are elegant and 
correct, so will those of the child, without an idea ever 
entering his mind that there is such a thing as a gram- 
mar in the world. The imitative faculty is alone suffi- 
cient to form a style so far as oral language is concerned, 
and precisely the same analogy applies to written com- 
positions, for the mental process is the same in both cases. 
In the latter, ideas are represented by marks, and in 
the former, expressed by sounds; but the same ideas, 
and the same order and arrangement of them, are alike 
capable of being appropriated in both forms. In teach- 
ing English written composition, therefore, the same 
error unquestionably obtains that is here treated of in 
reference to other languages. Notwithstanding all the 
grammar rules that may have been given to a pupil 
concerning the order and arrangement of his sentences, 
in actual practice, the mind involuntarily recurs to some 
palpable model which had previously struck his mind. 
In short, the course of his former reading, and the 
natural bent of his own mind, will form the basis of his 
style, however that may be ultimately improved by the 
test of grammar rules. Such, then, being a natural 
principle, we may expect to find it operating in all 
similar cases, modified only by circumstances, for to the 
laws of nature there are no exceptions. 

The object of acquiring a knowledge of Latin and 
Greek is different from that of learning a modern living 
language. The former, as has been already stated, being 
strictly for literary and philosophical purposes, it is not 
essential that they be acquired phonically and orally. 



334 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

The training of the eye is therefore the first object in 
this case, which is analogous to a child learning to read 
his own tongue; and this, again, is a process similar 
in every respect to that of his learning to speak. In 
the latter case, the repetition of a certain sound in 
connexion with the same object calls up the image of 
that object; and when by imitation the child learns to 
re-echo the same sound himself, the sound and the object 
become for ever afterwards inseparably blended in his 
mind. And in reading, the form of certain marks calls 
up at first the mere sound of which they are the symbol, 
and through this the idea ; but after some practice, the 
idea itself is immediately called up by merely looking at 
the word on paper. So in translating a foreign 
language, the pupil receives his ideas through a double 
vehicle ; the word " homo, " for instance, does not at 
first suggest the idea of a man, but the equivalent 
English term, from which latter he gets the idea. Prac- 
tice, however, in this also, shortens the course of arriving 
at the idea. An obvious inference from this, therefore, 
seems to be, that when the words are placed in juxta- 
position with one another, the impression of their corre- 
spondence will be both more vivid and more lasting than 
by any other mode, simply from their being more closely 
associated in the mind. 

Professor Blackie, of Aberdeen, in an able essay 
upon the learning of languages, strongly insists upon 
a revival of the ancient oral method of teaching Latin, 
as being the strictly natural course. With all deference 
to so competent an authority, and fully aware of the 
fact, that it certainly is the most natural course with 
regard to a living language, still, bearing in mind the 
proper object of a classical education, that it is not to 
promote the interchange of thought among living men, 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 335 

but to infuse, through the silent oracle of books, a higher 
tone to the intellect, I think the same object can more 
immediately be accomplished through an initiatory process 
of interlineary translation. The acquiring of equivalent 
English and Latin terms being decidedly the first step, 
there cannot possibly be a more rapid mode than this. 
No master alive can be so perfect as to speak Latin in 
any degree approaching to so good a style as the most 
inferior of those ancient Latin authors we have in our 
hand. But even were he able to do so, and to teach his 
pupil a similar degree of excellence, a second course, 
namely, that of learning to read, must afterwards be gone 
through, thus, in fact, doubling the labour instead of 
simplifying it. Knowledge of any kind, when presented 
to the eye, obtains a readier access to the understanding 
than by the ear ; and as economy of time in the learning 
of languages is a matter of the first importance, this 
interlineary mode has many advantages in this respect 
over oral translation. 

It is hardly possible to conceive a greater mass of 
absurdity, connected with any subject, than that of 
learning Latin according to the popular plan. At every 
stage of the child's progress is he obstructed by needless 
difiiculties. At his first entrance on the study he is set 
to learn by heart a whole book of grammar, consisting 
of declensions of nouns, conjugations of verbs, abstract 
rules of syntax, of gender, and even of prosody, before 
he is permitted to translate a single sentence ; and when 
he does arrive at that consummation of his hopes, how illu- 
sory does it often prove ! He has to work his way into 
the meaning of a passage by the most tortuous and pain- 
ful process. A delectus of detached sentences is generally 
put into his hand, and for the meaning of every word 
he has to consult the pages of a dictionary. Let any 



336 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

one reflect for a moment, or try the experiment himself, 
and see how many precious minutes are thus consumed 
in ascertaining the meaning of a single word ; and let 
him sum up the amount necessary to master a page of 
Latin, and he will no longer wondrr how so few hoys, 
even after a course of eight years' study, can read a 
passage of Latin from a strange author ad aperturam 
libri. Besides, in a dictionary a single word has some- 
times a dozen meanings attached to it, aud which of 
these conflicting senses is the bewildered child to 
choose ? If it he said that the scope of the passage 
will assist him, in most initiatory hooks that is of a very 
limited nature indeed. Take the delectus, and it would 
he no difficult matter to select passages that would puzzle 
for no little time much older heads than those generally 
engaged on it, simply from this want of a context. 
It is, however, entirely from the scope of the passage 
that the child proceeds to analyse its meaning, which, by 
the way, is also a practical argument against the utility 
of all his former preparatory course of grammar for the 
same purpose. But the meaning of the words is not all 
he has to contend with, — the involved order of the sen- 
tences is another G-ordian knot which his rules, to say 
the truth of them, are totally incapable of unfolding. 
In many passages these rules will apply to several senses, 
neither of which, after all, may be the right one. Now, 
it cannot be denied that both these exercises — the study- 
ing of the different shades of meaning that attach to 
words, and the keen scrutiny into the sense of a passage, 
are well adapted to sharpen the powers of perception 
and reflection, and generally to improve the mind. But 
the task is too onerous for an early stage ; and in most 
cases it either overpowers and bewilders these faculties, 
when proper assistance is not afforded, or gives a pre- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 337 

mature and morbid excitement to them. Besides, in the 
simple fact, that it is a needless labour, a toiling up the 
rugged height of some precipitous mountain, when the 
same eminence might be gained by an easy ascent, and 
thus an enormous waste of valuable time, there is 
abundant reason for its condemnation. 

And if these were some of the impediments to the 
learning of Latin, the avenues to Greek were doubly 
blocked up. Greek grammars were explained in Latin ; 
and even lexicons shed their imperfect light through the 
same medium. All explanatory notes, if such they 
could be called, were also in Latin. Fancy a boy of ten 
or eleven years of age, whose Latin vocabulary, by the 
theoretical -course mentioned, is not very extensive, 
making his first attempt at translating a sentence in 
Greek. He comes upon the particle cb>, and refers to 
his lexicon for an explanation. Instead of getting 
anything of the kind, however, or simply being told that 
it meant " could," "would," or " should," he is gratified 
with the intelligence that it is " Particula potentialis, 
de qua consulendus est doctissimns Hoogeveen, de L. G. 
Particulis, Greek Exer" Who this most learned 
Hoogeveen may be, whom he is requested to consult 
upon this important affair, where he may be found, or 
when found, whether he might prove anything more com- 
municative than doctissimus Schrevelius, are questions 
anything but suggestive of encouragement to the Greek 
tyro. Every boy sees and feels the absurdity of these 
things himself. Hence the repeated questions of all 
intelligent boys to their tutors — What is the use of 
learning Latin and Greek by such means, and what 
ultimate advantage can compensate for so much labour ? 
To this an answer may probably be received, that it is 
a more classical mode ; but whether this solution of his 

Q 



338 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

doubts may be anything more satisfactory than the 
preceding, is itself a very doubtful question. 

William Lilly, the first master of St. Paul's School, 
Dean Colet, its founder, and Erasmus, were the three 
parties who composed what is now known as the Eton 
Latin Grammar. But neither of these three scholars 
either recommended or practised its modern application. 
It was rather meant as a philosophical work for the study 
of mature minds, than for novitiates entering upon 
classical studies ; and it was written in Latin that it 
might form a standard, not only for the masters of 
this country but of other countries, who might trans- 
late it into their own tongues, and frame rules and 
abridgments out of it for the use of their own pupils. 
The very fact of its being written in Latin shows that it 
was intended for the use of masters and not of pupils, 
which was a similar mode to that adopted in drawing up 
any other digest of learning or philosophy. In Lilly's 
own example, too, there is a proof of this. From this 
philosophical Latin Grammar he drew up a short " Intro- 
duction" in English for the use of his own pupils, which, 
with the " oral assistance of a good master," was reckoned 
then quite sufficient for school purposes. It was his own 
custom, then, to teach from this English abridgment, 
and which he also recommended to others. The larger 
grammar, in Latin, however, was afterwards by public 
authority introduced into schools all over England. The 
consequence was, that the difficulty of explaining it to 
children was vastly increased, and the indolence of the 
masters speedily suggested the more comfortable way of 
rolling the burden from their own upon the learners' 
shoulders, and making them commit to memory its 
unexplained rules. 

The practice of referring to lexicons in learning a 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. »S39 

language came into use in a similar way. It is very 
certain that the earliest mode of teaching Latin and 
Greek was either colloquially or by the oral interpretation 
of a master. He explained the meaning of individual 
words and the connective sense of passages, serving the 
purpose both of a grammar and lexicon in his own 
person ; but when dictionaries came to be published, 
instead of deriving from them additional facilities in 
continuing the same plan, he abandoned it entirely, and 
devolved upon the pupil the task of teaching himself. 
It was in every respect the same thing as if one of our 
best English teachers of the present day, instead of ana- 
lysing words etymologically to his pupils, were to send 
them to Walker's English Dictionary to look up their 
meaning for themselves. They would there find other 
words and perhaps several meanings, but the immediate 
import of that they were in quest of would likely be as 
obscure as before. And doubtless this would be an easier 
method to the master, but it may readily be conceived 
how little it would benefit the scholars. So when the 
art of printing increased the number of these Latin 
dictionaries, it in like manner increased the pupils 
labour and lessened that of the teacher; and while as 
an instrument in the master's hands it might have aided 
in the pupil's advancement, in those of the latter it only 
added to his confusion and bewilderment. 

What is proposed, then, as a better course of 
acquiring a knowledge of Latin and Greek is indeed 
not a new mode, but the revival of a system which 
was in full operation three hundred years ago, and has 
the sanction of some names of the highest celebrity 
in English literature. It is simply following the same 
course in reference to a foreign language, that nature 
and necessity point out to the infant in acquiring a 

q2 



340 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

knowledge of its parent tongue. It has been mentioned 
that the same analogy obtains between learning to speak 
and learning to read ; but there is even a closer analogy 
to the former in the process of translating one language 
into another. Two different terms are thus taken to 
represent the same idea, so that, independently of the 
lost time and labour necessary to get an equivalent and 
corresponding term in a dictionary, from association^ the 
connexion of these two terms is much better remembered 
by having seen them opposite to one another. This 
leads at once to interlineary translation, and such is 
accordingly the mode here advocated. 

Let it be understood, however, that the general prin- 
ciple contended for is not limited to this mode of trans- 
lation ; the object is to give every possible facility to an 
acquaintance with a foreign language, and to remove 
every needless obstruction out of the way, to which end 
an interlinear translation is but a valuable auxiliary. 
Like every other innovation upon a time-honoured cus- 
tom, this method, though much older than the present 
popular system, is looked upon with anything but appro- 
bation at all public institutions. Being both natural 
and simple, however, it is silently making its way to 
public favour, and ere long, one would think, will be 
very generally practised. Neither is it wonderful that it 
should be so strongly opposed, coming into collision, 
as it very materially does, with the interest of many of 
its opponents. Classical instruction forms a promi- 
nent feature in all colleges, universities, and schools 
throughout the country, and consequently the professors 
and teachers in those institutions find a corresponding 
profit to the length of time over which a course of clas- 
sical study extends. Besides, as less individual instruction 
is necessary on the part of such professors and teachers 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 341 

from the additional labour thus given to the students, the 
duties of the former are found more easy and comfortable 
than by an explanatory mode of oral grammaring. 

The principal objection urged against it worthy of 
notice is, that it leaves the student ignorant of the gram- 
matical structure of the language. There is no foun- 
dation for this remark, as shall presently be shown ; but 
admitting it to be correct, it might with equal justice be 
replied, that the popular method, if it does initiate the 
pupil in any better way to an acquaintance with the 
rules that govern the language, in nine cases out of ten 
leaves him in possession of these barren honours alone. 
But that a more thorough grounding in the principles of 
the language can be effected by the plan under notice 
must appear, from the simple reason, that the pupil has 
in his first course a groundwork to stand upon. He 
proceeds from practice to deduce a theory, rather than 
make an ill-understood theory square with a more unin- 
telligible practice. He collects his materials and begins 
the work, and when it has advanced beyond the limits of 
his experience, he calls to his aid the rule and compasses 
to harmonise its proportions and beautify its parts. 

Of the different modes of conducting a course of study 
in Latin and Greek by an interlineary translation, cer- 
tainly the most comprehensive plan that has yet appeared is 
embraced in a series of works published a few years ago 
under the title of " Locke's System." That profound 
thinker, from whose suggestions these works were princi- 
pally compiled, being himself much engaged in teaching, 
was deeply conscious of the defective modes then in use 
in teaching Latin. With his characteristic originality, 
therefore, he set about remedying the evil, and his strong 
good sense at once dictated the necessity of introducing 
a pupil to the practice of a language before troubling 



342 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

him with its etymological and syntactical structure. His 
memorable words are, " Take some easy and pleasant 
book, such as iEsop's Fables, and write the English 
translation, made as literal as it can be, in one line, and 
the Latin words which answer each of them just over it 
in another;" and he also left among his other valuable 
writings a small work as a model of the plan, entitled 
" iEsop's Fables, in Latin and English interlineary ; 
for the benefit of those who, not having a master, would 
learn either of these tongues. By John Locke, Gent." 

What is known as the Hamiltonian system is consi- 
derably like this, both giving strictly literal transla- 
tions ; but while Locke's system preserves a certain 
grammatical structure in the English translations, 
Mr. Hamilton, endeavouring to infuse into these cer- 
tain barbarisms peculiar to the original, destroys the 
grammatical structure and connexion. The Hamiltonian 
system, however, sets up claims to an originality of 
invention, though, with such proofs of identity as are 
manifest between his works and this little model of 
Locke's, it is somewhat difficult to concede them. But, 
whether original or not, and much inferior as they cer- 
tainly are to the series of volumes mentioned, they are a 
vast improvement upon the popular system. But these 
treatises, besides giving a better translation, surpass 
Mr. Hamilton's works in another and most important 
particular, and that is, their enabling any student at all 
acquainted with English grammar to acquire incidentally 
all the different parts of speech of the Latin. In the 
Hamiltonian books a noun may be placed opposite to a 
verb, and an adjective given as the translation of a noun, 
to keep up the idiomatic style mentioned ; but in Locke's 
system the more natural and philosophical mode is 
adopted, of rendering every word as far as possible into 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING, 343 

its corresponding part of speech. All, therefore, that is 
necessary for the pupil to do, in order to distinguish the 
parts of speech of the Latin words, is to ascertain what 
their equivalents in English are. Thus, grammar to a 
considerable extent is learned contemporaneously with 
the meaning of words, and without the least difficulty 
or exertion on the part of the pupil. It is indeed 
analogous to the best mode of teaching English gram- 
mar, in which the part of speech is ascertained, not by the 
form of the word, but by its meaning. But during the 
first stage, or during the reading of the first book in the 
series, this is all the grammar that is taught. 

It may be mentioned, for the sake of those who are 
unacquainted with the nature of these interlineary works, 
that the pure Latin in its original order, and without a 
translation, is again given at the end of the book, so 
that after the sense of the passage has been got from the 
translation, it is there the pupil reads his lesson. In 
the translation, too, the sentences are presented " in 
ordine," that is, the arrangement of the Latin words is 
according to the order of an English sentence. The 
involved Latin order, however, is restored at the end 
of the book, where the pupil reconstrues it. Three 
things are therefore acquired during the reading of 
the first book, — the meaning of a considerable number 
of Latin words, the distinction of many of the parts of 
speech, and a certain acquaintance with the involved 
style of Roman writers. By this, which is strictly a 
process of training, a foundation — for there is no better 
figure — of words and sentences is laid. But the lesson 
is not finished until a re -translation has again been made 
without book in Latin, and also unassisted by the con- 
nexion of the narrative. 

At a further stage the inflection of words is got in the 



344 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

following manner, which is entirely a deductive process, a 
generalising and classifying of details. Having ascertained, 
through the medium of the English word, to what part of 
speech its equivalent Latin term belongs, the pupil also 
sees the same word assuming different forms in different 
positions. He sees musa taking the form of musa, 
musam, musarum, musts, musas, and also finds that 
each of these forms has some corresponding change in 
signification. He is then taught the distinction that 
obtains in this respect between the English and Latin, 
that while the former expresses the relation of words and 
ideas by other auxiliary words, the Latin does the 
same thing by a difference of termination in the word 
itself. And as analogy and illustration are always the 
most powerful means of conveying instruction on any 
subject, they can in this instance be applied with consi- 
derable effect. These different forms may be represented 
by some tangible object having suffered an accident. 
The word musa, for instance, undergoes an accident 
when it assumes the form of musarum, and this acci- 
dental property of words is therefore called case. But as 
these accidents or cases are of different kinds, they are 
named accordingly, and hence the six cases of nouns and 
the different terminations that belong to each. And now 
is the proper time to give the paradigm of these, when 
the pupil really feels the want of such a standard. 

In like manner are the pronoun, the verb, and other 
parts of speech thus taught. They are previously pictured 
out, as Mr. Stow aptly phrases this mode of teaching, 
and their several details and ramifications explained 
in connexion with some clause of the passage read; and 
when they are thus incidentally and collaterally deduced 
and distinguished from other parts, they are ultimately 
classified and tested by an appeal to the grammar. Such 



PHILOSOPHY OP TRAINING. 345 

an exercise, therefore, it must be evident, is in itself an 
excellent training process. It disposes the mind to a 
general habit of investigation on other subjects, and to 
collect and classify facts for itself; whereas, the popu- 
lar method entirely precludes the necessity of deduction. 
It is what Locke denounces as a " sort of Egyptian 
tyranny, bidding children make bricks who have not any 
of the materials." 

It must be obvious that, according to this plan, the 
syntactical parts of grammar are deferred to a consider- 
ably late period ; because a person learning to read Latin 
is justin the position of a child learning to read his native 
tongue, to whom the form, the sense, and the ortho- 
graphy of words, are alone a sufficient study. But after, 
by the preceding method, he has been made acquainted 
with the peculiar genius of the Latin tongue, and sees 
wherein it differs from and agrees with the English, he 
is then introduced to a systematic mode of construing 
it. This is done altogether without the aid of a transla- 
tion, and by a method as entirely inductive as the former. 
It should be remarked, that as an accompaniment to the 
works published on this plan, there is a course of 
" parsing lessons," which form an entire praxis of the 
inflections. This, therefore, studied as a sequel to his 
former incidental course of training, fully prepares the 
student for entering upon the duty of construing, un- 
aided by an interlinear translation. Hitherto he has 
been guided in his course by leading-strings ; he is now 
left to a trial of his own powers, and that he will still 
find considerable difficulties to encounter is certain ; but 
that he will meet and encounter these with an advantage 
infinitely superior to the mere grammar- taught student, 
is a test by which the merits of the respective systems 
may be confidently tried. 

Q3 



346 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

The last part of the course is entirely an imitative 
exercise, which has been called by Ascham, "double 
translation.'* This plan, so far as antiquity may be con- 
sidered a recommendation, has the advantage of all 
others. It is recommended by Cicero, and the younger 
Pliny, to those who wished to acquire the Greek lan- 
guage, and that it would therefore be extensively prac- 
tised at that time is pretty certain. In comparatively 
modern times, it was adopted by the celebrated scholar 
Eoger Ascham, tutor to Queen Elizabeth, in the edu- 
cation of that accomplished princess. He also followed 
a preparatory course similar in principle to that spoken 
of; for, though it does not appear that he interlined 
his lessons, he accomplished the same end by acting 
himself as a translator, by " grounding the pupil in 
the cause and matter of the lesson," and " construing 
it into English so oft, that the pupil might easily carry 
away the understanding of it." And by the same mode 
of double translation was it, that the late Sir William 
Jones so rapidly became acquainted with no fewer than 
twenty- eight languages. His custom was, after having 
translated a passage from any foreign author into 
English, to shut the book and from memory endeavour 
to restore in writing his own translation into the original. 
He would then open the book and compare the two, by 
which means he was enabled to detect his own errors, 
and acquire the style and idioms of the original. It 
may also be remarked in passing, that this mode of 
teaching a pupil to speak a foreign language has been 
found of admirable effect. The manner in which it is 
done is simply to make him translate a passage orally 
into English, and then again orally into the original 
from the English. By these means the idioms are 
acquired in their natural connexion, instead of being 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 347 

got by heart in an isolated form, as is too generally the 
ease. It thus becomes an exercise of the imitative faculty 
alone, aided by the memory, and therefore precisely fol- 
lowing the order of nature. The same plan, I believe, is 
pursued to a very considerable extent in the teaching of 
French in the Mechanics' Institute at Liverpool. 

In fact, so fully are some educationists impressed 
with the excellence and utility of this mode, they ven- 
ture to affirm that, were an extensive course of it con- 
tinued, the use of a grammar for all practical purposes 
might be utterly discarded. One may attain a correct 
style of speaking and waiting English, though he may 
never have seen nor heard of an English grammar in his 
life, simply by imitating and practising after the best 
models. And this is the entire genius and spirit of the 
plan, namely, a practical imitation. Let any one try it 
on a single passage of French or Italian. Let him from 
an interlinear copy, or by any other means, ascertain the 
sense of the passage, convey this into literal English of 
his own writing, then begin to translate into the original, 
and let him examine the course of his own mind during 
the process, and he will find that he is proceeding pre- 
cisely upon a principle of synthesis — that is, combining 
and grouping words and sentences that have been pre- 
viously analysed in the English translation. All this is 
done, too, according to some visible model or picture 
of the original that is still lingering in his mind's eye. 
The mind in such a process has a series of concrete 
ideas upon which it can lay hold, and by concatenation the 
whole scope of the passage is gradually unfolded. Phrases 
and idioms are acquired without an effort, falling natu- 
rally into their own places, and melting down as it were 
into the very current of the passage. Of course, the 
blunders that a tyro will make in this way are very 



348 PHILOSOPHY OP TRAINING. 

numerous, and of a nature perhaps different from those 
of the grammar-bred student. In his first and many sub- 
sequent attempts he will be found committing solecisms 
against the most elementary principles of grammar. A 
pronoun of the first person may be found agreeing with 
a verb in the third person, and a masculine noun with a 
feminine adjective. But what of that? the same errors 
are made by a child learning to speak, or any one learn- 
ing to speak a foreign tongue, which practice ultimately 
corrects. Therefore, let not any one say that this is a 
proof of some grounding process previously necessary, 
unless he is also prepared to admit that a child requires 
some preparatory grammaring before he is permitted to 
lisp forth his incoherent sentences. Let the student go 
on, fearless of ridicule; every successive imitation will 
be an improvement of his style, and an accession to his 
stock of words and phrases, till by degrees he approxi- 
mates to the perfection of those employed by the author 
he imitates. It is not the place here to inquire how far 
this fear of offending " against some solemn grammar 
rule," as Professor Blackie calls it, injures a pupil in his 
progress, but every one will acknowledge the power 
of an opposite feeling in the parallel case of children 
forming their first imperfect sentences. To the parent, 
and indeed to any one, there is a peculiar charm in these 
disjointed fragments of speech in a little child — the first 
buddings of his expanding intellect. Hence every attempt 
of the child is generally met with a smile of approba- 
tion ; and how far this accelerates his acquisition of the 
powers of speech it may not be easy to judge, but that 
it must materially assist in the process, is a supposition 
in strict accordance with a first principle in morals. 
The student should therefore be encouraged to go on 
fearlessly, as no one ever spoke properly without first 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 349 

committing many blunders, according to the Italian pro- 
verb, " Per parlare bene, bisogna parlare male." 

Perhaps the most absurd of all modes of teaching 
French is that of presenting a pupil with long lists of 
idioms to be got by heart, a task which is only equalled 
in atrocity by that of setting children to commit whole 
spelling-books by heart in columns to teach them ortho- 
graphy. It is, however, still a favourite mode of teach- 
ing that language, even in many seminaries of high 
name. But it would seem that if a premium were 
awarded to any one who should devise the most difficult 
and protracted mode of learning French, the inventor of 
such a method would decidedly carry off the palm. 
These idioms are — many of them at least — incapable of a 
literal rendering ; and as no analysis of them is ever 
attempted, they lie upon the memory a mere " rudis 
indigestaque moles!' No association of thoughts can 
call them up at will. They are like the disjointed frag- 
ments of a machine, of no use apart from its entire 
structure, and can never be of service until their place be 
ascertained in general conversation. Perhaps a somewhat 
analogous course to this would be in a child learning 
to speak, instead of assisting him to articulate the names 
of familiar objects around him, that he should be taught 
first to enunciate some of the abstract phrases of English 
conversation. This practice, however, is quite of a piece 
with the whole routine of modern language teaching. 
Everything that is most difficult and formidable is accu- 
mulated at the very portals, which should open, or be 
opened rather, to admit the student ; and hence so many 
are repulsed from entering upon these studies. 

It would appear, then, that this process of double 
translation ought to be the last in the course ; and in 
all submission to the talented editors of ''Locke's 



350 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

System," I would therefore venture to dissent from the 
opinions they have expressed in favour of a higher course 
of versification and even conversation. Of what earthly 
use it can be to set children to compose Latin verses, 
and becloud their tender fancies in the arrangement of 
catalectic, acatalectic, and hypercatalectic, dimeters, pen- 
tameters and hexameters, must certainly require a poet's 
fancy to explain. Nor will any ordinary individual be 
fanciful enough to say that even the famous Oxford 
prize essays in verse have anything like the quality of 
poetry in them. The very best of these learned and 
most elaborate productions may have to the eye, and 
the ear indeed, the shape and sound of poetry, but the 
living, breathing spirit that once animated these lifeless 
fragments has long since fled from the earth. It is some- 
thing like an attempt at galvanising a dead body, pro- 
ducing only a melancholy caricature of the living frame. 
Yet it would be saying much to assert that this is a fault 
peculiar to modern Latin poesy, for the most unimagi- 
native proser by labour and study may, and often does, 
write volumes of English verses. In fact, this power 
of versifying and what is strictly the province of ideality 
are essentially distinct ; and a person may write the most 
beautiful poetry in prose, and the most grovelling prose 
in verse. The former of these faculties, taking cog- 
nisance as it does, of size and number, is more nearly 
allied to mathematics and arithmetic, which every one 
knows are the very antipodes to poetry. At all events, 
with regard to modern Latin poetry, it seems to be a 
sort of excrescence in literature, generated only amid the 
unhealthy seclusions of those institutions that shut out 
the pure light of nature from developing a healthier 
education. 

It is further argued, that the practice of Latin versifi- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 351 

cation lends a better insight into the peculiar graces of 
original Latin compositions. But, as many who never 
wrote English poetry in their lives, may yet surpass the 
voluminous poet, in appreciating the graces of English 
literature, from the distinction that obtains between the 
mere faculty of scanning metres and that of presenting 
ideas in a fascinating and attractive manner, so is it 
doubtless in Latin compositions : and even if it has this 
effect, which is extremely doubtful, it must at all events 
be one of those luxuries which are purchased too 
dearly by such a course of study as is necessary Jo 
write those verses with any degree of correctness. In 
writing Latin verse it is not thoughts and ideas that 
the student hunts after, but synonymous words of a 
certain length and a certain number of feet, just as an 
operative builder mechanically fits into the edifice his 
materials, without regard to the general harmony of its 
parts. Milton, speaking on this subject, says, " It is a 
preposterous exaction, forcing the empty wits of children 
to compose themes, verses, and orations, which are the 
acts of ripest judgment, and the final work of a head 
filled, by long reading and observing, with elegant 
maxims and copious inventions. These are not matters 
to be wrung from poor striplings like blood out of the 
nose, or the plucking of untimely fruit." 

Another reason urged in favour of it is, that it 
tends to impress upon the mind the quantities of Latin 
syllables more deeply, and secures a more correct pronun- 
ciation. It is, perhaps, matter of regret that an affair so 
trifling as the misplacing of a quantity in pronunciation 
should be held as any test of attainment in classical 
knowledge, but so it certainly is at present; and as 
matters stand, the slightest lapse in this respect at once 
sets down the utterer of it as a sciolist in the art. But 



352 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

all this is on a wrong principle. It is rearing a most 
elaborate and complex standard of scholarly refinement 
upon a basis of the most unsubstantial kind. It is 
surely at best a questionable employment of those Godlike 
faculties with which man is gifted, to bend all their ener- 
gies, " to shun delights and live laborious days," in 
order to ascertain whether certain vocables were sounded 
long or short some three thousand years ago. It may be 
said, indeed, that this shibboleth in the aristocracy of 
letters is nothing more absurd than many things forming 
the criteria of taste and refinement in ordinary life. The 
solecism of " eating olives with a fork 5 ' may overthrow 
the pretensions of some nouveau riche to the conven- 
tional character of a gentleman. But there is a great 
difference in point of principle between the two cases. 
Gentlemanly habits and polished manners are based 
upon sound morality, and to support such a standard is 
equivalent to promoting many of the courtesies and 
amenities of life. Whereas, this labouring after such 
barren honours is only gaining the name without the 
solid advantages of scholarship. 

But it is very doubtful whether writing Latin hexa- 
meters and pentameters does impress more deeply upon 
the mind of the pupil the quantities of Latin syllables. 
If the writer, whose lot it was to compose a fair average of 
such effusions at the university, may be allowed to cite his 
own experience in the matter, the solitary recollection of 
one quantity being more deeply impressed upon his 
mind by writing it in a copy of verses, is all the advan- 
tage he can lay claim to. It occurred in the word Sar- 
danapalus, which he had chanced to read a few days before 
in Juvenal, in the only line that decides the length of its 
penultimate syllable. How far the same object could 
have been effected by simply committing the line itself 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 353 

to memory, or even one of those lines in which it occurs, 
in Lord Byron's beautiful poem on that effeminate 
monarch, let philologists decide. 

Professor Blackie, and the compilers of the " Locke 
System," seem both to favour the idea of cultivating a 
knowledge of Latin by means of conversation. The 
former, indeed, insists upon having it taught in this 
manner alone. It would seem, however, that this is 
now simply impossible, and even if it could be done, the 
chief object of teaching Latin would not be thus secured. 
It would doubtless be a restoration of the ancient prac- 
tice established by Henry VIII. in the schools of his 
time. It was by help of " some use in speaking which 
must necessarily be had," that the boy was to be 
" brought past the wearisome bitterness of his learning." 
Lilly himself, in his Monita Pcedagogica, says, Et 
quoties loqueris, memor esto loquare Latine. But it 
must be remembered that the object of learning Latin in 
those days was very different from what it is now. It 
was then the chief medium of intercourse among learned 
men, and had many advantages in this respect, as it 
formed a common bond of intimacy, not only among the 
philosophers of England but of Europe. Besides, a col- 
loquial knowledge of it was then indispensable to those 
intended for the church, the law, or the medical profes- 
sion. And if at the present day there were any necessity 
for learning it as a vehicle for imparting our thoughts to 
others by speech or writing, an arrangement to that 
effect would still be the best. 

But there is no necessity for this : its services at the 
best are but auxiliary to the formation of a good English 
style, which is by far the best exponent of English 
thought ; and it may furnish many words and fragments 
of words to beautify and enlarge the fabric of the English 



354 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

tongue ; but the latter is now too comfortable and elegant 
a garb to be laid aside for the scanty integuments of a 
Latin dress. It is said also, conversation naturally follows 
from a course of study such as that mentioned ; and 
true, it does ; but the current can find no channel in the 
conversation of ordinary life, and on a student's emerging 
from school or college, must necessarily soon dry up. 
The only fountains of Latin conversation are in the 
Catholic colleges of Europe ; but as the Latin colloquies 
there practised are intended for preparing novitiates 
for the forms and ceremonies of the Church of Eome, 
they cannot surely be set up as a model for Protestant 
colleges. It may therefore be a better way of teaching 
Latin for a certain purpose, but that purpose is anything 
but an enlightened one, and of no practical use in general 
literature. Indeed, it is readily granted that this mode 
of acquiring either Latin or any other language is a very 
natural one, second only to studying from a native. Be- 
tween this plan and the method of acquiring a language 
by detached words and idiomatic phrases, there is all 
the difference already adverted to, between ideas re- 
ceived into the mind concretely, and abstractedly. By 
concatenation, whole sentences rise in the mind in a con- 
nected train, instead of the mind itself labouring to throw 
together the single words and phrases that may be lying 
disjointedly upon the memory. But the true object 
of the study is not to acquire the Latin tongue as 
an end of conversation, but as a means of cultivating 
the mind. 

It may seem paradoxical to assert that an Englishman 
is really better adapted to teach his own countryman 
French than a native of France ; but, with the exception 
of a very few niceties of intonation and accent, and some 
high-flown complimentary phrases, for imparting the 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 355 

stamina of the language, such seems really the case. The 
reason is obvious ; for in many instances the French 
teacher has just about as much of English to learn as 
his pupil has of Freuch. He cannot thus communicate 
or infuse into the mind of the pupil the unidiomised 
English of his own French. The latter may get French 
for his English ; but he cannot get the true English for 
his French, which is nearly as bad. A native, then, 
may be of service to an advanced pupil as what may be 
correctly styled in this instance, a "finishing master;" 
but for all the earlier stages, an intelligent Englishman, 
with a good pronunciation, will serve equally well, if not 
better. Every one has heard of Goldsmith's famous 
Irishism, when he went to Holland to teach English to 
the Dutch; and only found out his mistake when about 
to enter upon his duties, in being as much at a loss for 
Dutch as they for English : and so is it really the case 
with many Frenchmen. 

As one of the objects designed by throwing these 
remarks into the present form was, that teachers and 
others might see the course of study, and the principles 
of that system of instruction, now beginning to be adopted 
in many of the best institutions of the country, the fol- 
lowing very brief outline of the plan is here submitted 
to their consideration. It is almost entirely similar to 
that marked out by the authors of " Locke's System," — 
decidedly the best arrangement in use. 

The first book put into the hands of a boy beginning 
Latin is a versified copy of "iE sop's Fables," by 
Pheedrus, with an interlinear translation and notes. 
By the assistance of these he prepares his lesson, and 
makes himself thoroughly master of the sense of each 
fable in the single Latin text, that is, in the pure Latin. 
From this again, a re-translation is made into the Latin, 



356 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the English for which is given orally by the master, and 
the Latin orally by the pupil. A decided improvement 
on these books, in my opinion, would therefore be, to 
have also a separate English version of the fable, so that 
from sight a translation from this might be read in 
Latin, as from the Latin original an English translation 
is read by sight. The advantages of such an arrangement 
must be obvious. Like other languages, the sound of 
Latin words affords no index to the manner in which 
they ought to be spelt ; and it is by writing, alone, that 
the orthography of this or any other language can be 
acquired. Besides, though a boy may know the sound 
of many Latin words in this way, and their corresponding 
English, it is no guarantee that he would know these 
same words on seeing them on paper. It is, in fact, really 
teaching Latin to a considerable extent by conversation, 
which, it must ever be remembered, is not the mode best 
calculated to promote the object of learning that tongue. 

It ought also to be mentioned, that not only is the 
passage translated in the connexion of the story, but 
without the book, each Latin word is taken separately 
and turned into English, and each separate English word 
into Latin. 

By the time a boy has gone through this course of 
reading he will have acquired a very considerable number 
of Latin words, be able to tell to what parts of speech 
they belong, and have gained a little knowledge of the 
involved Latin order of sentences. But no further ana- 
lysis of them will yet be given. 

He next enters upon the first book of " Ovid's Meta- 
morphoses," and proceeds in exactly the same manner. 
In this author many words of less common use occur, 
the acquisition of which will make a large addition to 
his vocabulary. But a study of the accidence must 



PHILOSOPHY 0? TRAINING. 357 

now accompany a reading of this book. Proceeding 
inductively, the student will observe what words in the 
lesson appear to correspond in form with the first declen- 
sion of nouns. These will be inflected through all their 
cases, the tables of which will now also be got by heart. 
But it is quite possible to teach even the tables in this 
way by mere conversation. The same course is followed 
with the other declensions, and with all the other parts 
of speech, until the distinction of these is clearly under- 
stood. 

The regular inflections being thus acquired and tested 
by examples from the grammar ; the next book in the 
course is now taken, which is the first book of "Virgil's 
iEneid." In this, as in "Phsedrus" and "Ovid," the 
Latin text is construed according to the interlinear trans- 
lation, but in addition, from a supplementary volume of 
" parsing lessons," each sentence is analysed, each word 
assigned to its proper part of speech, and a full descrip- 
tion of its peculiar modification given. 

As a good training exercise at this stage, the sign 
and forms of nouns and verbs in the single English 
version may be altered, and the different cases and tenses 
of the same Latin word required, by which means an 
entire command over all the inflections will be gained. 

" Csesar's Invasion of Britain " is the next book iu the 
series, which is translated as the others. Each reading 
is now accompanied with a small portion of the syntax, 
as the reading of Ovid was accompanied with the acci- 
dence. The style of the Commentaries is remarkably 
easy of construction, and therefore peculiarly adapted to 
this exercise. The best grammar for this mode of study 
is the "London Latin Grammar;" and as the rules of 
syntax are there principally exemplified from this part of 
Csesar and the first book of Virgil, it is again necessary 



358 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

to recur to Virgil, which before was used only as a praxis 
of inflection, to get acquainted with its structure by the 
rules in that grammar. The scanning of hexameters may 
also be taught by the rules there laid down ; but a very 
few conversational lessons so far as Virgil is concerned, 
may serve to initiate the pupil into all the mysteries of 
dactyles and spondees. 

Hitherto the exercises in parsing and syntax have 
been conducted separately ; in the next book, which is 
the " Life of Agricola, by Tacitus," they are combined ; 
single words and their modifications being referred to 
their proper declensions and conjugations, and compound 
phrases and sentences according to their relations and 
dependences. 

To recapitulate — In " Phsedrus," simple reading and 
translation, with naming of the parts of speech. 

" Ovid," the same, accompanied with a study of the 
accidence. 

" Virgil," the same, with a higher and more extended 
course of parsing. 

" Csesar," the same, with syntax and construction. 

" Life of Agricola," the same, combining both parsing 
and syntax. 

Such may, therefore, be called an initiatory or first 
course. In order to attain a thorough knowledge of 
the grammar and structure of Latin, it will be expedient 
for the student to return to the earlier volumes in the 
same order as before, and apply the whole of his gram- 
matical knowledge to each of these. In this course the 
interlinear translation will be discarded, and the notes 
also more fully attended to than formerly. 

The length of time necessary for such a course, is not 
in many instances greater than what is required to com- 
mit to memory, and plod through the unintelligible 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 359 

pages of an Eton grammar. And how far it is superior 
as a mental exercise, in pleasantness and ultimate utility, 
let candid judges say. 

At this point of his career the student is now left to 
his own resources ; and higher classics, without interlinea- 
tion, are put into the hands of those designed for literary 
or scientific pursuits. 

At this stage, therefore, it is, that the excellence or 
inutility of such a preparatory course will he tested. 
But as many collateral circumstances must also he taken 
into account, such as the aptness and diligence of the 
pupil, and skill of the instructor, a candid judgment will 
also embrace these in coming to a conclusion regarding 
its merits. And perhaps for these reasons, the more 
tangible criterion will simply he the rationale of the plan 
itself, apart from ulterior and contingent circumstances ; 
hut to either of which an appeal may confidently he 
made. 

In a course of Greek, precisely the same method is 
followed. 

" Lucian's Dialogues " furnish a vocabulary. In 
"Anacreon's Odes," the parts of speech are distin- 
guished. "Homer's Iliad," with "Parsing Lessons," 
involves a complete praxis of inflections. " Xenophon's 
Memorabilia " serve as an introduction to syntax ; ampli- 
fied by recurring to the Iliad ; while " Herodotus' His- 
tories" afford subjects for practising in combination the 
exercises previously taken separately. 

It has been already mentioned, that the principle on 
which the preceding plan is based, is not an innovation 
upon the original system of classic instruction. It is the 
present popular mode that is a corruption of the pri- 
mitive. "The so-called innovations," says the Quarterly 
Review, No. 77, " appear, when investigated, to be in 



360 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

the spirit, and even according to the letter of that system 
which was digested hy some of the ablest and most 
learned men of a learned age." This will appear heyond 
controversy from the following extracts taken from the 
writings of the founders of St. Paul's, and other English 
schools, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, and even 
from that monarch's own injunctions, and subsequently 
from others of a still higher literary eminence, who set 
themselves to expose and reform the corruptions that 
had crept into these original systems in their clays. It 
will be remarked, too, that the principle of the system is 
the same whether it may have been administered collo- 
quially, by oral interpretation, or by interlineation. An- 
other essential point, in which they all agree, regards the 
time and manner of using the grammar; that the student 
should be prepared for the grammar by a course of 
reading, rather than to read by a course of grammaring. 

It is well known that Henry the Eighth established a 
method of colloquial instruction in all the grammar 
schools then existing, or being founded. In this single 
fact, therefore, it is indicated in what manner the basis 
of that instruction was laid, whatever may have been the 
collateral and higher departments of the course. Eor it 
may easily be seen that, if Latin be taught to any extent 
by conversation, the student, so acquiring it, Assumes the 
same character and position as a child learning his 
parent tongue, or any one learning a foreign language 
from a native, in either of which cases grammar must 
necessarily be postponed to a mature stage of the course. 
Next to Henry the Eighth, the most celebrated authority 
of the same period is Cardinal Wolsey — himself a school- 
master in his earlier days.* This great statesman drew 

* Ex ludimagistro subvectus est ad regnum. — Erasmus. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 361 

up and enjoined a plan of studies to be adopted by all 
the public schools of the country. And it is to this 
plan that, according to the charters of their foundation, 
such schools ought still to adhere. But although it is 
nominally observed, a few extracts from his address to 
the masters of Ipswich school, may serve to show how 
widely all of them have now chosen to depart from its 
spirit. In that letter there is no mention made of any- 
thing like committing to memory the rules of an 
unexplained grammar, nor looking out the words of a 
dictionary, but, on the contrary, there is prescribed in the 
clearest terms, a plan of " lessoning," that is, orally 
explaining the text of an author, and of " exercising" 
upon the grammar, the materials for which exercise arise 
out of the former : — 

" In the first place, it has been not improperly resolved 
that our school be divided into eight classes. The first 
of these is to contain the less forward boys, who should 
be diligently exercised in the eight parts of speech ; and 
whose now flexible accent it should be your chief concern 
to form; making them repeat the elements assigned them 
with the most distinct and delicate pronunciation. 

"Next in order, after pupils of this age have made 
satisfactory progress in the first rudiments, we would 
wish them to be called into the second form, to practise 
speaking Latin, and to render into Latin some English 
proposition; which should not be without point or per- 
tinence ; but should contain some piquant or beautiful 
sentiment, sufficiently suitable to the capacity of boys. 
As soon as this is rendered, it should be set down in 
Koman characters; and you will daily pay attention, 
that each of the whole party have this note-book per- 
fectly correct, and written as fairly as possible with his 
own hand."_ 

R 



362 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

For the third class he recommends the reading of 
^Esop and Terence, with Lilly's Genders of Nouns. 

For the fourth class, Virgil; and he also adds — "As 
well adapted to this form, Lilly will furnish the past tenses 
and supines of verbs. But although I confess such 
things are necessary, yet, as far as possible, we could 
wish them so appointed, as not to occupy the more valu- 
able part of the day." 

For the fifth class, after dissuading from anything 
like harsh treatment, he says — " Your principal concern 
will be, to lesson them in some select epistles of Cicero ; 
as none other seem to us more easy in their style, or more 
productive of rich copiousness of language." 

For the sixth class, Sallust, or Caesar's Commentaries, 
with Lilly's Syntax. 

" The party in the seventh form should regularly have 
in hand either Horace's Epistles, or Ovid's Metamor- 
phoses or Fasti; occasionally composing verse or an 
epistle of their own. It will also be of very great im- 
portance, that they sometimes turn verse into prose, or 
reduce prose into metre. In order that what is learnt 
by hearing may not be forgotten, the boy should re-peruse 
it with you, or with others. Just before retiring to rest 
he should study something choice, or worthy of remem- 
brance, to repeat to the master the next morning. 

"At intervals, attention should be relaxed, and re- 
creation introduced; but recreation of an elegant nature, 
worthy of polite literature. Indeed, even with his studies, 
pleasure should be so intimately blended, that a boy may 
think it rather a game at learning, than a task. And 
caution must be used, lest by immoderate exertion the 
faculties of learners be overwhelmed, or be fatigued by 
reading very far prolonged : for either way alike there is 
a fault. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 363 

" Lastly, when by exercise of this kind the party has 
attained to some proficiency in conversation- style, they 
should he recalled to the higher precepts of grammar ; 
as, for instance, to the figures prescribed by Donatus, to 
the elegance of Valla, and to any ancient authors what- 
ever in the Latin tongue. In lessoning from these, we 
would remind you to endeavour to inform yourselves at 
least on the points it may be proper should be illustrated 
on each present occasion. For example, when intending 
to expound at length a comedy of Terence, you may 
first discuss in few words the author's rank in life, his 
peculiar talent, and elegance of style. You may then 
remark how great the pleasure and utility involved in 
reading comedies ; of which word you should explain 
the signification and derivation. Next you may briefly 
but perspicuously unravel the substance of the plot; and 
carefully point out the particular kind of verse. You 
may afterwards arrange the words in more simple order; 
and wherever there may appear any remarkable elegance, 
any antiquated, new-modelled^ or Grecian phrase, any 
obscurity of expression, any point of etymology, whether 
derivation or composition, any order of construction 
rather harsh and confused, any point of orthography, any 
figure of speech, uncommon beauty of style, rhetorical 
ornament, or proverbial expression, in short, anything 
proper or improper for imitation, it should be scrupulously 
noticed to the young party. 

"Moreover, you will pay attention that in play- time the 
party speak with all possible correctness; sometimes 
commending the speaker, when a phrase is rather appo- 
site, or improving his expression when erroneous. 
Occasionally some pithy subject for a short epistle in 
their native tongue should be proposed. And, to con- 
clude, you may exhibit, if you please, some formulae, 

R2 



364 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

which serving as a guide, a given theme may conveniently 
be treated."* 

The opinions of the learned Erasmus were in harmony 
with these views ; and indeed the essayist from whom 
the preceding address is here copied says that whole pas- 
sages of that letter are taken verbatim from the works of 
Erasmus. He also, along with Ludovicus Vives, at the 
request of Queen Catherine, drew up a scheme of teach- 
ing the Latin tongue for the use of the Princess Mary, 
based upon the same method ; and in his works generally 
many passages may be found corroborative of the same 
principle. In his Ecclesiastes he says, " When I speak 
of grammar, I do not mean the inflection of nouns and 
verbs, and the agreement of one word with another ac- 
cording to its place ; but the modes of speaking correctly 
and properly, which can only be acquired from multi- 
farious reading of the ancients, who excelled in elegance 
of speech." And in his Dialog, de Pronunciatione , speak- 
ing of what constitutes the basis of a language, he 
says, " A thorough knowledge of words, and a ready and 
proper naming of everything that occurs, is an ad- 
mirable and necessary foundation for learning : yet 
this is neglected above measure in the common methods 
of teaching ; by which omission it happens, that after 
children have trudged many years in the elements of 
erudition, they scarce know the proper names of the 
several species of trees, fishes, birds, beasts or grain; 
even at home, the very furniture about them, or the 
various necessaries which are there daily used, they know 
not how rightly to name in Latin ; so that if they want 



* For a full translation of this address with its preface, see 
" Essay on a System of Classical Instruction," published for the 
London University, from which the preceding extracts are taken. 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 365 

a napkin, they say not Da mihi mantile, but Da mihi 
rem ; and are either forced to supply this incapacity by 
pointing with the finger at what they cannot name, or 
putting in auxiliary words from their mother- tongue to 
explain their meaning." 

Dr. Colet, the founder of St. Paul's School, was also 
the friend of Erasmus and Cardinal Wolsey, and, along 
with Lilly, one of the compilers of the Eton Grammar. 
In his preface to it, addressing the masters of St. Paul's, 
he gives precisely the same sentiments that his contem- 
poraries entertained on the subject. " Of these eight 
parts of speech," says he, " in order well construed, be 
made reasons, and sentences, and long orations. But 
how, and in what manner, and with what construction of 
words, and al] the varieties and diversities and changes 
in Latin speech, (which be innumerable) if any man will 
know and by that knowledge attain to understand Latin 
books, and to speak and to write clean Latin, let him 
all busily learn and read good Latin authors, of chosen 
poets and orators, and note wisely how they wrote and 
spake, and study always how to follow them, desiring 
none other rules but their examples. For in the begin- 
ning, men spake not Latin because such rules were made, 
but contrariwise ; because men spake such Latin, upon 
that followed the rules and were made. That is to say, 
Latin speech was before the rules, and not the rules 
before the Latin speech. Wherefore, well-beloved mas- 
ters and teachers of grammar, after the parts of speech 
sufficiently known in our schools, read and expound 
plainly unto your scholars good authors. And show to 
them every word, and in every sentence what they shall 
note and observe, warning them busily to follow and do 
like, both in writing and in speaking ; and be to them your 
own self also speaking with them the pure Latin very 



366 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

present, and leave the rules. For reading of good books, 
diligent information of learned masters, studious advert- 
ence and taking heed of learners, hearing eloquent men 
speak, and finally, busy imitation with tongue and pen, 
more availeth shortly to get the true eloquent speech 
than all the traditions, rules, and precepts of masters." 

Such, then, were the views and intentions of those 
great men who founded and prescribed rules for the 
public seminaries of this country ; and had they been 
adhered to, the state of education in after times would 
have been much less deplorable. Nor at the present day 
would the study of Latin and Greek have been anything 
but a subordinate department of instruction, a healthy 
auxiliary perhaps, in training the mind for higher pur- 
poses, instead of engrossing so much of its attention, 
and spreading over so large a period of time. But 
less than forty years had elapsed, when a degenerate 
practice supervened upon these rational principles ; and 
though many eminent men^ from that period to the pre- 
sent day, have loudly protested against such a declension, 
the absurd practice still remains intact and apparently 
intangible. In Queen Elizabeth's time, several of her 
ministers of state were sensible of the erroneous practices 
of school education, and Koger Ascham, her majesty's 
preceptor in Latin and Greek, was requested by the 
treasurer, Sir Kichard Sackville, to draw up a state- 
ment of better principles for teaching the learned 
languages ; which he did, in a work entitled the 
" Schoolmaster," published after his death. In that 
work he details the principles of the plan he himself 
pursued. It is said that he learned this mode from 
his own tutor, Sir John Cheke, who had previously prac- 
tised it in the education of King Edward VI., and which 
Ascham also adopted in that of Queen Elizabeth. One 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 367 

or two extracts will show its resemblance to the principles 
of Erasmus and the linguists of King Henry's day. 

With regard to his plan of " double translation," he 
says : — " Plinius Secundus, a wise senator of great expe- 
rience, excellently learned himself, a liberal patron of 
learned men, and the purest writer, in mine opinion, of 
all his age, (I except not Suetonius, his two school- 
masters Quintillian and Tacitus, nor yet his most excel- 
lent learned uncle, the elder Plinius) doth express, in 
an epistle to his friend Fuscus, many good ways for 
order in study; but he beginneth with translation, and 
preferreth it before all the rest. 

" But a better and nearer example herein may be our 
most noble Queen Elizabeth, who never took yet Greek 
nor Latin grammar in her hand, after the first declining 
of a noun and a verb ; but only by this double translat- 
ing of Demosthenes and Isocrates daily, without missing 
every forenoon, and likewise some part of Tully every 
afternoon, for the space of a year or two, hath attained 
to such a perfect understanding in both the tongues, and 
to such a ready utterance of the Latin, and that with 
such a judgment as there be few in number in both the 
universities or elsewhere in England, that be in both 
tongues comparable with her majesty. And to conclude 
in a short room all the commodities of double translation, 
surely the mind, by daily marking, first, the cause and 
matter ; then, the words and phrases ; next, the order 
and composition ; after, the reason and arguments ; 
then, the forms and figures of both the tongues ; lastly, 
the measure and compass of every sentence, must needs, 
by little and little, draw unto it the like shape of elo- 
quence as the author doth use, which is read. And thus 
much for double translation." 

Regarding the construction of sentences, according to 
it 3 



368 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

a hint from Cicero Be Oratore, he says : " First, let him 
teach the child cheerfully and plainly the cause and 
matter of the letter ; then let him construe it into English 
so oft, as the child may easily carry away the understand- 
ing of it ; lastly, parse it over perfectly. Tins done 
thus, let the child, hy-and-hy, hoth construe and parse it 
over again, so that it may appear that the child douhteth 
in nothing that his master taught him before. After 
this, the child must take a paper book, and sitting in 
some place where no man shall prompt him, by himself, 
let him translate into English his former lesson. Then 
showing it to his master, let the master take from him 
his Latin book, and pausing an hour at the least, then 
let the child translate his own English into Latin again 
in another paper book. When the master shall compare 
Tully's book with the scholar's translation, let the mas- 
ter at the first lead and teach his scholar to join the 
rules of his grammar-book with the examples of his 
present lesson, until the scholar by himself be able to 
fetch out of his grammar every rule for every example ; 
so that the grammar-book be ever in the scholar's hand, 
and also used of him as a dictionary for every present 
use." 

In the reign of Charles the First, a reformation had 
also commenced ; and in the year 1641, Amos Comenius, 
a " man born for such purposes," was appointed to 
superintend the work of improvement ; but the troubles 
of that stormy period overthrew the design. A few years 
later appeared Milton, whose genius was also directed to 
the same end ; and in his famous letter to Mr. Hartlib, 
written in the year 1650, are the following sentences : — 

" And seeing every nation affords not experience and 
tradition enough for all kinds of learning, therefore we 
are chiefly taught the languages of those people who 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 369 

have at any time been most industrious after wisdom ; 
so that language is but the instrument conveying to us 
things useful to be known. And though a linguist 
should pride himself to have all the tongues that Babel 
cleft the world into, yet, if he have not studied the solid 
things in them, as well as the words and lexicons, he 
were nothing so much to be esteemed a learned man as a 
yeoman or tradesman competently wise in his mother 
dialect only. Hence appear the many mistakes which 
have made learning generally so unpleasing and so 
unsuccessful. First, we do amiss to spend seven or 
eight years, merely in scraping together so much mise- 
rable Latin and Greek as might be learned otherwise 
easily and delightfully in one year. And that which 
casts our proficiency therein so much behind, is our 
time lost partly in too oft idle vacancies given both to 
schools and universities, partly in a preposterous exac- 
tion, forcing the empty wits of children to compose 
themes, verses, and orations, which are the acts of ripest 
judgment, and the final work of a head filled, by long 
reading and observing, with elegant maxims and copious 
invention. These are not matters to be wrung from 
poor striplings like blood out of the nose, or the plucking 
of untimely fruit. Besides the ill habit which they get 
of wretched barbarising against the Latin and Greek 
idiom, with their untutored Anglicisms, odious to be 
read, yet not to be avoided without a well- continued and 
judicious conversing among pure authors digested, which 
they scarce taste; whereas, if after some preparatory 
grounds of speech by their certain forms got into memory, 
they were led to the praxis thereof in some chosen short 
book lessoned thoroughly to them, they might then forth- 
with proceed to learn the substance of good things, and 
arts in due order, which would bring the whole language 



370 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

quickly into their power. This I take to be the most 
rational and most profitable way of learning languages, 
and whereby we may best hope to give account to God 
of our youth spent herein. " 

All the authority of Locke, a few years after Milton, 
is to the same effect. — " When I consider what ado is 
made about a little Latin and Greek, how many years are 
spent in it, and what a noise and business it makes to 
no purpose, I can hardly forbear thinking that the 
parents of children still live in fear of the schoolmaster's 
rod, which they look upon as the only instrument of 
education ; as a language or two to be its whole busi- 
ness. How else is it possible that a child should be 
chained to the oar seven, eight, or ten of the best years 
of his life, to get a language or two, which I think might 
be had at a great deal cheaper rate of pains and time, 
and be learned almost in playing ! 

" As soon as he can speak English, it is time for him 
to learn some other language. This nobody doubts of 
when French is proposed; and the reason is, because 
people are accustomed to the right way of teaching that 
language, which is by talking it into children in constant 
conversation, and not by grammatical rules. The Latin 
tongue would easily be taught the same way if his tutor 
being constantly with him, would talk nothing else to 
him, and make him answer still in the same language." 

" But if such a man cannot be got, who speaks good 
Latin, and, being able to instruct your son in these parts 
of knowledge, will undertake it by this method ; the 
next best is to have him taught as near this way as may 
be, which is by taking some easy and pleasant book, 
such as iEsop's Fables, and write the English translation 
(made as literal as it can be) in one line, and the Latin 
words which answer each of them, just over it in another. 



FHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 371 

These let him read every day over and over again, till he 
perfectly understands the Latin ; and then go on to 
another fable, till he he also perfect in that, not omitting 
what he is already perfect in, hut sometimes reviewing 
that to keep it in his memory. And when he comes to 
write, let these he set him for copies, which with the 
exercise of his hand, will also advance him in Latin. 
This being a more imperfect way than by talking Latin 
unto him, the formation of the verbs first, and afterwards 
the declensions of the nouns and pronouns perfectly 
learned by heart, may facilitate his acquaintance with the 
genius and manner of the Latin tongue, which varies the 
signification of verbs and nouns, not as the modern 
languages do, by particles prefixed, but by changing the 
last syllables. More than this of grammar I think he 
need not have, till he can read, himself, Sanctii Minerva, 
with Scioppius and Perizonius's notes." 

One or two fragments from a paper by Richard Carew, 
Esquire, in answer to the question, " Whether the ordi- 
nary way of teaching Latin, by the rules of grammar, be 
the best ? " convey the same opinions as the preceding. 

" Being sent into France, that there I might learn the 
French tongue, which language, though it seemed very 
hard to me in the beginning, because mine ignorance 
made me unable to distinguish one word from another^ 
and so imagine that those people used to talk much 
faster than we did, in a little time, when by often hearing 
their talk I began to discern the distance of one word 
from another, I found they used to talk rather more 
deliberately than we do ; and so by reading and talking, 
I learned more French in three-quarters of a year, than 
I had done Latin in above thirteen ; wherein, though I 
will not deny, but the use of my Latin Grammar did 
something help me to make me the better apprehend the 



372 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

coherence of speech, yet I have ever since conceived, upon 
my learning by practice, that usual talking and much 
writing and reading, open a surer and readier way to attain 
any tongue, than the tedious course which is used in the 
Latin, by construing and parsing according to the rules 
of grammar, in observing of the number, gender, case, 
and declension of all variable words ; partly, because so 
much time is spent in the declination of every word, 
according to the forms set down in the grammar; and 
partly, in the overloading of the weak wits of youths 
with such a multitude of ordinary rules, and such a 
world of exception in particular words, as are acknow- 
ledged to differ from the general rules, as is able to con- 
found both the memory and understanding of men of 
years. 

" I could wish, therefore, that when children are first 
taught the grammar, instead of that they were employed 
in much reading and writing, and turning their Latin 
books into English, and returning the same back again 
into Latin, whereby they should, in that wasted time of 
their youth, gain the knowledge of many good authors, 
which they could not have time to read ; and which, by 
their dulness in learning the rules of grammar, they are 
so tired with the difficulty thereof, that they conceive an 
impossibility ever to attain it, and so quit it, though 
they prove men of excellent understanding when they 
come to ripeness of age. And the help prescribed by 
the grammar rules, how to put the nominative case 
before the verb, the accusative after, and to join the 
substantive with the adjective, and the ordering of every 
word according to our English fashion, may be more 
easily directed by placing figures of number to express 
their order." 

Of Cowley it is said : >f I find that our countryman 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 373 

Mr. Cowley, who learned nothing while a boy that he 
needed to forget when he came to be a man, could never 
be brought to retain the ordinary rules of grammar, but 
conversed with the books themselves whence those rules 
were drawn : and that, no doubt, was the better way. 
He afterwards found this benefit by it, that having got 
the Greek and Latin languages, as he had done his 
own, not by precept but use, he practised them not as a 
scholar, but as a native." 

Nor less was the same principle appreciated and acted 
upon by many celebrated French scholars. The Abbot 
Calcavi, a learned Frenchman, and library-keeper to 
Louis XIV., was taught by the same method, and ac- 
quired an astonishing proficiency as a linguist when but 
a boy. 

Montaigne in his Essays relates the course his father 
adopted in his education. After " having sought among 
the wisest men of the age for a shorter method of teaching 
than that universally received in schools," he engaged a 
man to teach him colloquially ; from his progress under 
which mode he soon acquired " as pure a Latin style as 
any master could speak." 

In an account of the education of the Dauphin, son to 
Louis XIV., by the famous M. Bossuet, Bishop of 
Meaux, his preceptor, contained in a letter to Pope 
Innocent XL, it is said : — 

" We need not be long upon the method of his gram- 
mar-learning. We endeavoured to teach him the Latin 
and French tongues both together, first of all their pro- 
priety, then their elegance. We relieved the tediousness 
of this part of learning by convincing him of the useful- 
ness of it, and by forming the knowledge of things with 
that of words, so far as his age would admit." 

The same principles are also recognised in a treatise 



374 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

on the " Method of Teaching the Learned Languages," 
by Tanaquil Faber, Professor of Greek and Latin in the 
university of Saumur about 1660. M. Faber was the 
father of the famous Madame Dacier, well known for 
her commentaries on so many Greek and Latin authors ; 
and it was by the method detailed in this treatise that he 
conducted those studies in which she displayed so great 
a proficiency, both in infancy and mature years. 

On the whole, then, such evidence as that adduced 
in the preceding pages, ought surely to inspire some 
degree of conviction that the present mode of con- 
ducting a classical education is based upon a wrong 
practice, induced by indolence; and that the adoption of 
a method of oral or interlinear translation, with simply 
reading and being exercised upon the grammar at an 
advanced stage, would be a return to those principles 
laid down by the founders of endowed English schools, 
and in harmony with the opinions of some of the most 
learned men of the last three centuries. 

In bringing these remarks to a close, I shall but add 
a single word regarding the time necessary for such a 
course of study. Of late, so great has been the rage for 
every kind of novelty, and so multitudinous the means 
resorted to in order to gratify this diseased state of the 
public mind, that thinking people naturally regard with a 
degree of scepticism, auy innovation upon an established 
order of things. That the teaching of languages by a 
shorter method has also been taken advantage of, for this 
purpose, by the empiric and the charlatan, is what cannot 
be denied. One hears every day of French, Italian, &c, 
being taught in " five lessons," and in " four months," and 
so on ; pretensions that carry an absurdity in their very 
announcement ; and it is the failure of such mushroom 
systems that compels people to fall back upon the anti- 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 375 

quated mode. I do not say, however, that any, or indeed 
all of these plans are not preferable to the popular 
mode; many of them seem to he good; hut how much 
French can any one acquire in "five lessons," unless 
these he of the most Brobdignagian dimensions, or even 
in " four months," at two hours a-week ? Yet every one 
of any penetration may see, that some remedy ought to 
be applied to abridge the term of study, at present deemed 
necessary to obtain a knowledge of languages. 

It seems, therefore, the more prudent course to refrain 
from expressing an opinion m the case, and merely to 
recapitulate a few sentences from some of the authoiities 
already adduced, with others bearing upon the same 
point, from whose opinions few persons of candour will 
dissent. 

Making some little abatement for the peculiar circum- 
stances of Eoger Ascham, tutor to Queen Elizabeth, in 
speaking of the attainments of that learned princess, he 
says : " In the space of a year or two she attained to 
such a perfection in understanding both Latin and Greek, 
and to such a ready utterance of the Latin, and that with 
a judgment as they be few in number in both universities, 
or elsewhere in England, that be in both tongues com- 
parable to her Majesty." 

He also mentions a young gentlemen of his acquaint- 
ance, who, by the plan described, "in eight months, was 
able to translate English into Latin, so choicely, so 
orderly, so without any great miss in the hardest points 
of grammar, that some seven years in grammar schools, 
yea, and some in the university, cannot do half so well." 

Locke says, " Whatever stir there is made about getting 
of Latin, as the great and difficult business, (of a boy's 
education,) his mother may teach it him herself, if she 
will spend two or three hours a dav with him." 



76 PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 

And the words of Milton, which serve as a motto to 
the books on the " Locke system," are to the following 
effect — " We do amiss to spend seven or eight years 
merely in scraping together so much miserable Latin and 
Greek, as might be learned otherwise, easily and delight- 
fully in one year." 

M. Tanaquil Faber gives his opinion in these words : 
" Thus much I will be bold to say, that youth may be 
instructed in such a method, as to be deemed men and 
scholars at those earlier years ; when others, educated in 
the common road, deserve only the name of school-boys " 

In a treatise entitled, " Examen de la maniere d'En- 
seigner le Latin aux Enfans par le seul usage, a Paris 
chez Jean Baptiste Corgnior, 1668," an example is 
inserted of a boy in Paris, who learned to speak Latin by 
" use alone," and could express himself properly on any 
subject, suitable to his tender age, when but four years 
old. 

In a tract, published by J. T. Phillips, one of the 
masters at Westminster, about ] 720, dedicated to the 
Duke of Buckingham, he says, " I am very well assured, 
if the Latin Testament was published with a literal Eng- 
lish translation interlined, men of business, who have any 
time to spare, if they would but spend a week or a fort- 
night to learn their verbs and nouns, may in a shorter 
time than I dare express here, attain to the understand- 
ing of any Latin author in prose." 

In the letter of the Bishop of Meaux to the pope 
regarding his pupil the Dauphin, it is said, "We were so 
happy in this method, that when he was little more than 
a child, he understood the best Latin authors, and was 
seldom at a loss where they were most difficult." 

The Abbot Oalcavi "was well skilled in nine languages 
when but thirteen years of age!' 



PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING. 377 

Montaigne describing his progress under a colloquial 
master, says, " And as for myself, I was above six years 
old, and could understand no more French than Arabic, 
but without rule or grammar I had gotten as pure a Latin 
style as any master could speak." 

It would be no difficult matter to multiply authorities 
of inferior note on this point, but I shall conclude with 
the mention of one illustrious individual, whose statue 
occupies a niche in St. Paul's among other memorials 
of the departed great ; and how much he was indebted 
for obtaining that honourable rank in the memory 
of his countrymen to this very plan, it would be rash 
to say; but that his rapid attainment of so many ori- 
ental tongues, so astonishing to every one, was entirely 
owing to this mode of " double translation," he himself 
admits. The late accomplished oriental scholar, Sir 
William Jones, here alluded to, said, that " he considered 
a course of six months study by the mode he practised, a 
sufficient length of time to acquire a thorough know- 
ledge of any language." 

To these testimonials, therefore, in favour of some 
more abbreviated mode of teaching the classics than 
that in popular use, I would, in conclusion, beg to 
call the attention of all such as still deem a knowledge 
of them an indispensable element in a course of liberal 
education. 



THE END. 



LONDON : 

BLACKBURN AND PARDON, PRINTERS, 

HATTON GARDEN. 



v^vr 











s**«'*^ 




da 



tf>^ 




^ ^ * 



Os * 







V *<**> -% V ***** ^ 

























»\<0 


























£ A 






& ^ 



?.s* -A 6 <■ "'To'' A & <• "l 



^ °- v 



ex * 










i\\& : 



ay ** 




'%. & : 







^0« 






1 * ° /■ -^ V * * * ° * *%» V> * Y * ° /• ^ V * 






<*. 









^$ 



^c? 






</'' 

^ 
t ^ 










\#: 



*^rP^\s., f/ ,<^'" 






<''■ 



